Homer: The Very Idea

by James I. Porter

The story of our ongoing fascination with Homer, the man and the myth. Homer, the great poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey, is revered as a cultural icon of antiquity and a figure of lasting influence. But his identity is shrouded in questions about who he was, when he lived, and whether he was an actual person, a myth, or merely a shared idea. Rather than attempting to solve the mystery of this character, James I. Porter explores the sources of Homer’s mystique and their impact since the first recorded mentions of Homer in ancient Greece.  The Very Idea considers Homer not as a man, but as a cultural invention nearly as distinctive and important as the poems attributed to him, following the cultural history of an idea and of the obsession that is reborn every time Homer is imagined. Offering novel readings of texts and objects, the book follows the very idea of Homer from his earliest mentions to his most recent imaginings in literature, criticism, philosophy, visual art, and classical archaeology. 

Genres: History, Nonfiction

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2021

About the author

James I. Porter (b. 1954) is Professor of Rhetoric and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the Irving Stone Chair in Literature.

Reviews

[Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book more than the execution. Where the first few chapters lured me in with their fairly legitimate project of the elucidation of the concept of Homer, at times swinging wide and going to modern sources to expand on his reception (he, the author, not the poems for which this absent he is known), from chapter 4 on the book fails to hold together a coherent stance on who or what Homer does or is in favor of small arguments about facets of the concept-some of which land firmly (either by virtue of a critical framework that slinks back into the darkness never to be revisited or by worthy references to sources from antiquity), but others of which fail to satisfy or seem wrong or suspiciously obscure.

The most egregious of these is his flagrant use of Plato as espousing some anti-Homeric program in his dialogues. It's excusable to let people have the line from the Republic (without context!!) where no poets are allowed in Socrates' imagined perfect city because of course everyone thinks that's patently Plato's view, but he also constructs an argument around the Ion wherein Ion's flubbed responses to Socrates' questions (his elenchos) combined with Socrates' Homeric punning end up suggesting even more strongly that Plato seeks to undermine Homer authority. This is just one of his doubtful assertions. Nevertheless, there are many fine points to be had within the book particularly in the first 3 chapters.

Sadly, the final chapter fails to bring together a meaningful conclusion. Instead you are left with the little pieces of the concept of Homer, all along a spectrum of likely to unlikely. I particularly disliked the final 2 chapters, which focused on Homer's epistemological authority (what did Homer see?) and his topic (why war?). What did Homer see focuses entirely too much on whether the fake entity that is Homer actually could have seen Troy. A more careful consideration of Homer's ties to the oral tradition may have obviated the mostly errant notions positing an epistemological gap. That being said, the notion of Troy's materiality, that is, what was there to see at the fabled site of Troy in ancient times is worth dwelling on. Why war focuses entirely too much on...indicating that Homer was problematic to glorify war. The best read I had on this was that he's cautioning the impressionable (and possibly beginning student of Homer) to not take the glory of war for granted and to be suspicious of commentators, ancient or modern, who do. To his credit, Porter doesn't seem to want to carry the aforementioned assertion to its ridiculous conclusion (Homer is not woke bro), but rather fails to effectively present the case he is making. However, perhaps in failing to present the case, Porter has a reflective effect upon the reader. I must concede he does acknowledge that Homer seems critical of glorifying war himself; although, this isn't expanded on.

Nonetheless, I did somewhat enjoy the book. I admire the project of conceptual analysis and elucidation in general and in this case no less because it's Homer. What I found lacking was his articulation of the angle or perspective of his assertions (maybe methodology is the right word here) which resulted in a confusing book that seems like it should have been a few articles. If I had to, I'd recommend this for undergraduates to read the sections with less recondite references. But it seems that graduate level work on this topic has moved to a more encompassing stance on the author of the Iliad and Odyssey.

I don't have the patience to bring up the good arguments he makes, but perhaps the daunting prospect of trying to nail down anything about Homer-cultural construct of an author that he is-encourages a certain oblique yet unsatisfying approach. Many modern examples of various interpretation or scholarship are brought up that display Homer's reception and these are mostly fine arguments qua reception. Oh and I loved that he brought in Borges' short story. I also appreciated his review of Samuel Butler's authoress argument as satire. But again that's all just reception stuff.

Woulda been 3.5 stars but he uses the word "inchoate" twice and we all know the first inchoate is free but after that it costs half a star for each use.

[Philip Koslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give more than 5 stars, it would be easy. James Porter has within 218 pages condensed and detailed everything about Homer and Troy via the Iliad and the Odyssey. The chapter titles are in themselves revealing as to the territory he wishes traverse and does so most ably. Why Homer? Who Was Homer? What Did Homer See? Why War? And was Homer always revered throughout history? From Plato to Aristotle to Nietzsche and beyond criticisms of Homer the "poet" Homer the "singer" Homer the "historian" and the authenticity of the Iliad and Odyssey are put to the test of accuracy without reservation. And yet, Homer survives as does the the works attributed to him. Porter's final take on this legacy comes eventually to the conundrum of celebrating the wars and the historical aftermath of the Trojan experience with modernity coming to terms with separating the aesthetic response to the "art" of the Iliad and Odyssey from the horrors Homer describes at Troy. Perhaps we cannot put a studied investigation on whether Homer or Troy were real but it is apparent that one cannot exist without the other. The final page (Page 218) confirms Homer's legacy (whoever he or she may be) is that "The Iliad is not a poem of death." "It is a poem of war. And Homer, however we chose to understand the name, never lets us forget the difference." Highly recommended and should be required reading beyond the Classics classroom.

[Dan Cassino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Porter has put together an engaging review of Homeric criticism and views of Homer- and especially the Iliad- since antiquity, but it doesn’t quite hang together. The book is based on a much shorter essay, and I think it was more effective in that form. The centerpieces of the book are a series of lengthy exegeses of presentations of Homer in art and literature, which are interesting, but tended to leave me wondering why I care this much about an experimental film, or a story by Borges. Some of the arguments seem a bit at odds with other reading I’ve done on the topic- for instance, the current consensus seems to be that there was an actual war at Troy- and some of the arguments seem a bit strained (his case that the ancients doubted the reality of Homer seems weak, for instance). As a review, it works well, and is interesting for readers interested in historical literary criticism, but the through line of the argument is lacking. I wanted a more substantial conclusion, a real point, and I don’t feel that I got it.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit traumatised because I spilled my entire drink bottle on the library's brand new copy of this book and am going to have to pay $50 to replace it but it is a delightful and interesting book, so I do not mind having to own it. Sometimes it felt a bit over the top intellectual and I didn't understand what he was saying but when I did get it I enjoyed it a lot.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly dense and sometimes dry tome about the IDEA of Homer - the construct of a poet named "Homer" alleged to have written the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the other "Homeric" poems. The book is occasionally deep and insightful, occasionally quite dry (as I mentioned), but for me, it was well worth the read.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Homer is "The Iliad". "The Iliad" is Homer. And "The Odyssey" too (but not as much).

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last chapter is fascinating, but the whole of the book interested me less.