Homer's poems are written down

In short

The Iliad tells of a few weeks of the Trojan War and the anger of the hero Achilles; the Odyssey tells of the long journey of Odysseus back home to Ithaca. For centuries these stories were sung from memory by bards, singers who played the lyre as they sang. According to tradition the author was Homer, a blind poet, but we do not even know whether he really existed. The poems took the form we know at more or less the time when the Greeks learnt to write with the alphabet.

Why it matters For almost three thousand years the adventures of Achilles and Odysseus have been read, studied and retold.

Source: Treccani, entry “Omero”

Where we are in the era “Sea civilisations”

Your turn

Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________

1. When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:

2. Tell it in your own words: what happened?

3. Draw the scene below.

storiascopio.com/en/event/homer-s-poems-are-written-down/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class