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This is a museum reproduction of an
original bust of Homer, author of the
ancient Iliad and Odyssey, revered as
one of the greatest of all poets. Those
who have the knowledge to read the
original Greek lines find in them simple
but elegant beauty, strength and
directness of style, lofty flight of musical
sound set forth in hexameter rhythm.
Those who read the poems in
translation find in them compelling
stories, imaginative poetry, heroic
character, stirring battle scenes and
fanciful adventure. They appeal to
people of all ages. By tradition Homer is
depicted as a blind old man, a kind of
minstrel who wandered from place to
place reciting his poems. That tradition
is the basis for his Roman copy of a
marble Hellenistic portrait made
centuries after his lifetime. Who was the
real Homer? His true identity is lost in
the mists of time. The ancient historian
Herodotus recorded that he was an
Asiatic Greek who lived about 830 B.C.
Some say that he was an Ionian Greek
who lived on the island of Chios two
centuries later. Still others believe that
the writing may not have been done by a
single author but by a group of poets
and minstrels who composed and
recorded legends of The Trojan Wars. At
least one thing seems certain, the
poems were handed down from
memory and written at a much later date,
since there is little evidence that the
Greek language was written at so early a
