Where spoken and written meet

Homer - A Man or Myth?

As I was thinking what I would address you all on today, (I feel like I have so much freedom in this transition phase !) I thought about some of the most interesting and debated topics of history. I did some Wikipedia surfing and found an interesting post on the Homeric Question. In sum, this is a complete tearing apart of the man "Homer" to discover the person behind the stories. Was he really one person, are the stories compiled from a "million pieces" format, is Homer a person at all or a descriptor turned to author? All these questions beg answers from only what oral tradition can or could have told them thousands of years ago.

Greek Please!

In my last post I gave a glimpse into Mycenaean music culture. Adding more to that, yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Luke Howard from the School of Music about ancient Greek Music. After I was referred to him from my roommate who is taking his Music History class, I caught up with him and he was obliged to answer a few of my questions.

From his college web page, Dr. Howard specializes in the culmination and influence of classical music in the pop culture as well as music history in general. He enjoys relating the ancient to the modern and looking for those traditions passed down from each respective culture. Here are a few of his responses:

A-Muse Me with Music!

Between 1600 and 1100 B.C. the Mycenaean culture was a dominant force in the Mediterranean. Centered on the northeastern side of the Peloponnese peninsula, they were a warrior favoring people who conquered many neighboring cultures in their expansion. There are not many direct records from their culture, however more famous texts such as Theogony by Hesiod, the Iliad and the Odyssey tell part of their story. In particular Hesiod tells the story of Greek Mythology, frequently referencing the Muses who aid in his story telling.

A Muse sarcophagus with the nine Muses depicted

Music was such an integral part of Greek life that it played into nearly every important event. According to John G. Landels, music was engrained into events such as public gatherings, private dinner parties, ceremonies, worship, comedies, tragedies, sports and athletic events, at schools, on the battlefield and on the ships (see page 1 in "Music in Ancient Greece and Rome", Routledge 1999.) It would be easy in today's world of music how this is possible and the effects that it has at bringing forward emotions within the people. To illustrate that, the 100,000 Watt sound system at the football stadium can easily sway the cheery fans to start stomping and yelling for their team with a couple of favorite songs.

Muses dancing with Apollos