Homer & AristophanesAn introduction to the socio-historical

context of Odyssey and The Frogs.

Odysseus blinding the Cyclopes

What does ‘Socio-historical’ mean?

• The Classical Studies study design defines socio historical as: “ the world in which the classical work was produced.”

• It means you need to understand the significance of specific events from the Classical era as well as the structure of the social, cultural and political environment.

Homer• There is no certain

knowledge about Homer• He may have lived in the

8th Century BCE• Some say he was a blind

poet from Chios• Some say he was a court

singer• Modern scholars don’t

agree about who actually wrote Iliad and Odyssey Bust of Homer from The British

Museum

• However, these works and the later Homeric Hymns are attributed to Homer

• Both Iliad and Odyssey draw on the oral tradition

• All scholars are in agreement that these two works are the foundation of Greek literature

• Some go as far as to say that they are the foundation of Western literature Odysseus and the Siren

An age of transition

• At the time Homer ‘wrote’ Odyssey, Greece was emerging from the Dark Age

• Trade was expanding in the Mediterranean• Colonization had begun with Greek trading stations

in Italy and Sicily• New settlements developed, with a growing trend

towards oligarchic rule• Common religious practices, sacred sites and

festivals began to develop the Greek cultural identity

• The Greeks of Homer’s time respected bravery, endurance, the rules of hospitality and the Gods

• They were curious about distant places and valued a man who was intelligent, resourceful, courageous, honourable and hospitable

• They were proud of their ancestors and enraptured by stories of heroes

Odysseus and Kirke

Aristophanes

• Aristophanes was a comic poet born around 445 BCE

• He died in the 380s• Aristophanes used the unique power of comedy

to freely criticize political leaders without fear of retribution

• He urged through his work a return to the honour and courage of the ‘Men of Marathon’

• By 405 BCE when The Frogs was written Athens was on the brink of losing the Peloponnesian war

• Since the death of Pericles in 428 BCE Aristophanes had watched the leaders of Athens blunder from one disaster to another

• In 413 BCE the assembly made a disastrous expedition to Sicily that resulted in a crushing defeat Hades and Persephone in the

Underworld

• In 411 BCE a coup tried to overthrow the power of the popular assembly, but they failed and lost their citizenship

• The democrats became more self important than before, and led by Cleophon they spurned a peace offer from Sparta after a victory at Arginusae in 406.

• Lysander blockaded Piraeus and the Spartan force massed at Decelaea

• The situation for Athens was dire

• The sense of impending threat is never far from the audience’s mind in The Frogs

• Aristophanes is urging that the Athenians need a leader to save them

• Aeschylus, another writer who lived through turbulent times is chosen, though it is uncertain if rescue will actually follow

Hades and Persephone in the Underworld

• The Greeks of Aristophanes’ time are vastly different to those from the time of Homer.

• Athens at this time is a sophisticated, urban community and its members are actively engaged with the world around them

• The threat of defeat is obvious and pressing• Aristophanes voices the need for the leaders and

citizens of Athens to return to the values expressed by earlier writers like Aeschylus and Homer, implying strongly of impending disaster if they do not

• In 404 BCE Athens fell.