Living Poets

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M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
 

1 Ὅμηρος ὁ ποιητής· Μέλητος τοῦ ἐν Σμύρνηι ποταμοῦ καὶ Κριθηΐδος νύμφης, ὥς φησι Καστρίκιος ὁ Νικαεύς· ὡς δ’ ἄλλοι, Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Καλλιόπης τῆς Μούσης· ὡς δὲ Χάραξ FGrHist 103 F 62 ὁ ἱστορικός, Μαίονος ἢ Μητίου ἢ Μητίου om. m καὶ Εὐμήτιδος μητρός· κατὰ δ’ ἄλλους Τηλεμάχου τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Πολυκάστης τῆς Νέστορος Ὅμηρος ὁ ποιητής … τῆς Νέστορος m: Ὅμηρος ὁ ποιητής, ἦν υἱὸς Μέλητος ... ὡς δ’ ἄλλοι φασίν, ...· ὡς δὲ Χάραξ φησίν ὁ ἱστορικὸς ... κατὰ δ’ ἄλλους ἦν υἱὸς Τηλεμάχου τοῦ υἱοῦ Ὀδυσσέως... m. ἔστι δ’ ἡ τοῦ γένους τάξις κατὰ τὸν ἱστορικὸν Χάρακα αὕτη· Αἰθούσης Θράισσης Λίνος, τοῦ δὲ Πίερος, τοῦ δ’ Οἴαγρος, τοῦ δ’ Ὀρφεύς, τοῦ δὲ Δρής, τοῦ δ’ Εὐκλέης, τοῦ δ’ Ἰδμονίδης, τοῦ δὲ Φιλοτέρπης, τοῦ δ’ Εὔφημος, τοῦ δ’ Ἐπιφράδης, τοῦ δὲ Μελάνωπος, τοῦ δ’ Ἀπελλῆς, τοῦ δὲ Μαίων, ὃς ἦλθεν ἅμα ταῖς Ἀμαζόσιν ἐν Σμύρνηι καὶ γήμας Εὔμητιν τὴν Εὐέπους τοῦ Μνησιγένους ἐποίησεν Ὅμηρον.

2 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν πατρίδα ἀμφίβολος διὰ τὸ ἀπιστηθῆναι ὅλως εἶναι θνητὸν τῶι μεγέθει τῆς φύσεως. οἳ μὲν γὰρ ἔφασαν γενέσθαι Σμυρναῖον, οἳ δὲ Χῖον, οἳ δὲ Κολοφώνιον, οἳ δ’ Ἰήτην, οἳ δὲ Κυμαῖον, οἳ δ’ ἐκ Τροίας ἀπὸ χωρίου Κεγχρεῶν, οἳ δὲ Λυδόν, οἳ δὲ Ἀθηναῖον, οἳ δὲ Αἰγύπτιον, οἳ δὲ Ἰθακήσιον, οἳ δὲ Κύπριον, οἳ δὲ Κνώσσιον, οἳ δὲ Σαλαμίνιον, οἳ δὲ Μυκηναῖον, οἳ δὲ Θετταλόν, οἳ δ’ Ἰταλιώτην, οἳ δὲ Λευκανόν, οἳ δὲ Γρύνιον, οἳ δὲ καὶ Ῥωμαῖον, οἳ δὲ Ῥόδιον.

3 καὶ προσηγορεύετο μὲν κυρίως Μελησιγένης· καὶ γὰρ ἐτέχθη παρὰ τῶι Μέλητι ποταμῶι κατὰ τοὺς Σμυρναῖον αὐτὸν γενεαλογοῦντας· ἐκλήθη δὲ Ὅμηρος διὰ τὸ πολέμου ἐνισταμένου Σμυρναίοις πρὸς Κολοφωνίους ὅμηρον δοθῆναι, ἢ τὸ τὸ m: ὅτι m βουλευομένων Σμυρναίων δαιμονίαι τινι ἐνεργείαι φθέγξασθαι καὶ συμβουλεῦσαι ἐκκλησιάζουσι περὶ τοῦ πολέμου.

4 γέγονε δὲ πρὸ τοῦ τεθῆναι τὴν πρώτην ὀλυμπιάδα πρὸ ἐνιαυτῶν νζʹ· Πορφύριος δὲ ἐν τῆι Φιλοσόφωι ἱστορίαι Fr. 201 Smith πρὸ ρλβʹ φησίν· ἐτέθη δὲ αὕτη μετὰ τὴν Τροίας ἅλωσιν ἐνιαυτοῖς ὕστερον υζʹ. τινὲς δὲ μετὰ ρξʹ ἐνιαυτοὺς μόνους τῆς Ἰλίου ἁλώσεως τετέχθαι ἱστοροῦσιν Ὅμηρον· ὁ δὲ ῥηθεὶς Πορφύριος μετὰ σοεʹ.

5 γήμας δὲ ἐν Χίωι Ἀρσιφόνην τὴν Γνώτορος τοῦ Κυμαίου θυγατέρα ἔσχεν υἱεῖς δύο καὶ θυγατέρα μίαν, ἣν ἔγημε Στασῖνος ὁ Κύπριος ὁ Κύπριος m: ὁ ὕπατος Κυπρίων m· οἱ δὲ υἱεῖς Ἐρίφων καὶ Θεόλαος.

6 ποιήματα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀναμφίλεκτα Ἰλιὰς καὶ Ὁδύσσεια. ἔγραψε δὲ τὴν Ἰλιάδα οὐχ ἅμα οὐδὲ κατὰ τὸ συνεχές, καθάπερ σύγκειται, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς μὲν ἑκάστην ῥαψωιδίαν γράψας καὶ ἐπιδειξάμενος τῶι περινοστεῖν τὰς πόλεις τροφῆς ἕνεκεν ἀπέλιπεν. ὕστερον δὲ συνετέθη καὶ συνετάχθη ὑπὸ πολλῶν, καὶ μάλιστα ὑπὸ Πεισιστράτου τοῦ τῶν Ἀθηναίων τυράννου. ἀναφέρεται δ’ εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ποιήματα· Ἀμαζονία, Ἰλιὰς Μικρά, Νόστοι, Ἐπικιχλίδες, Ἠθιέπακτος ἤτοι Ἴαμβοι, Βατραχομυομαχία, Ἀραχνομαχία, Γερανομαχία, Κεραμεῖς, Ἀμφιαράου ἐξέλασις, παίγνια, Σικελίας ἅλωσις, ἐπιθαλάμια, Κύκλος, Ὕμνοι, Κύπρια.

7 γηραιὸς δἑ τελευτήσας ἐν τῆι νήσωι τῆι Ἴωι τέθαπται, τυφλὸς ἐκ παίδων γεγονώς. τὸ δὲ ἀληθές, ὅτι οὐχ ἡττήθη ἐπιθυμίας, ἣ διὰ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄρχεται, καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο ἱστορήθη τυφλός. ἐπιγέγραπται δὲ ἐν τῶι τάφωι αὐτοῦ τόδε τὸ ἐλεγεῖον, ὃ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰητῶν ἐποιήθη χρόνωι ὥς φησι Καλλίμαχος post χρόνωι m· Cert. 18, P.Mich. inv. 2754 ll. 11-12, AP 7.3, Ps.-Hdt. Vit. Hom. 36, Anon. Vit. Hom. 1.6, Anon. Vit. Hom. 2.3, Anon. Vit. Hom. 3.5, Ps.-Plut. Vit. Hom. 1.4, Tzetz. Exeg. in Il. 37

ἐνθάδε τὴν ἱερὰν κεφαλὴν κατὰ γαῖα καλύπτει,
ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων κοσμήτορα θεῖον Ὅμηρον.

1 Homer, the poet: son of Meles, the river in Smyrna, and Critheis the nymph, as Castricius of Nicaea says; as others report, of Apollo and the Muse Calliope; as Charax the historian says, of Maeon or Metios and Eumetis, his mother; according to others, of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, and Polycaste, the daughter of Nestor. According to the historian Charax, his familial line is as follows: from Aethousa, a Thracian woman, <was born> Linus, from him Pierus, from him Oeagrus, from him Orpheus, from him Dres, from him Eucles, from him Idmonides, from him Philoterpes, from him Euphemus, from him Epiphrades, from him Melanopus, from him Apelles, from him Maeon, who went to Smyrne at the same time as the Amazons and, marrying Eumetis, the daughter of Euepes, son of Mnesigenes, sired Homer.

2 His fatherland is equally obscure, as there is universal disbelief that he was a mortal because of the greatness of his nature. For some said that he was a Smyrnaean, some a Chian, some a Colophonian, some that he came from Ios, some a Cymaean, some from the vicinity of Kenchreai in the Troad. Some make him a Lydian, some an Athenian, some an Egyptian, some an Ithacan, some a Cyprian, some a Cnossian, some a Salaminian, some a Mycenaean, some a Thessalian, some an Italian, some a Lucanian, some a Gryneian, some even a Roman, and some a Rhodian.

3 And he was called, properly speaking, Melesigenes; for he was indeed born by the river Meles, according to those who identify him as Smyrnaean by birth; he was named Homer because he was given as a hostage (homeros) when the Smyrnaeans faced the prospect of war against the Colophonians, or because, while the Smyrnaeans were deliberating and holding an assembly about the war, he spoke with a kind of divine power and gave them counsel.

4 He was born fifty-seven years before the first Olympiad was instituted; Porphyry in his Philosophical History says one hundred and thirty-two years before. The first Olympiad was instituted four hundred and seven years after the capture of Troy. Some report that Homer was born only one hundred and sixty years after the capture of Ilium; the aforementioned Porphyry, on the other hand, two hundred and seventy-five years later.

5 After marrying in Chios Arsiphone, the daughter of Gnotor the Cymaean, he had two sons and one daughter, whom Stasinus the Cyprian married. The sons were Eriphon and Theolaus.

6 Of the poems ascribed to him, the authenticity of the Iliad and the Odyssey is not disputed. But he did not write the Iliad in one go or continuously, as it is now assembled, but after writing and performing each rhapsody when he was visiting different cities to make a living, he left them behind. Later they were compiled and arranged by many people, and especially by Pisistratus, the Athenian tyrant. Some other poems are attributed to him as well: the Amazonia, the Little Iliad, the Returns, the Epikichlides, the Ethiepactus or Iambi, the Batrachomyomachia, the Arachnomachia, the Geranomachia, the Potters, the Expedition of Amphiaraus, playful poems, the Capture of Sicily, nuptial songs, the Cycle, the Hymns, the Cypria.

7 He died an old man and is buried on the island of Ios, having been blind from childhood. The truth is that he was not overcome by desire, which begins through sight, and for this reason he was reported to be blind. On his tomb is inscribed the following elegy, which was composed by the people of Ios in a later time:

Here the earth covers the sacred head, adorner of warrior heroes, divine Homer.

Relevant guides	Homer