The 2 Greatest Poets of MythologyThose who recorded it

HOMER• He is considered the greatest poet and artist of literary world• Homer was believed to be a blind man.• Information on his birth and death is very limited.• He was a bard (traveler who performed poetry for audiences)WORKS:• Wrote the Iliad & the Odyssey (2 epic poems) that were

about 12,000 verses (lines) each about the Trojan War.• The Trojan War was a defining moment in the lives of the

Greeks & the catalyst in the foundation of Rome. • Epic poems – poem that tells of the adventures of a hero and

includes supernatural elements.• The difference between his two epics were social setting and

condition of the work. (Written at different time periods)

Hesiod• Just as important as Homer, but lived after him. • He is known as the “Father of Didactic Poetry”• Didactic poetry – verse that teaches a moral lesson• He was a shepherd in his youth and grew to be a

poor farmer• Legend says that Hesiod was murdered by the sons

of a family with whom he was staying during his travels.

• Hesiod is said to have received a mystical visitation by the Muses (9 daughters of Zeus) that enlightened and inspired him to write his famous poems (on the next slide).

• Today most writers have “muses,” sources of inspiration.

Hesiod’s works:• His two famous poems were Theogony and Works &

Days.• Theogony –

▫ It centers around the history of the gods. He claimed the Muses told him to write it.

▫ We learn from this work that myths were the basis of their religion.

• Works & Days – ▫ It involves a disagreement between Hesiod and his

brother concerning the inheritance of their father’s estate.

▫ It also provides information on rituals & superstitions of the Greeks.

▫ It contains fables and myths Fable is a short story that has a moral.