For example, in Homer's day, sexual satisfaction was equal to the satisfaction of one's appetite for food today. They lived to a point where pleasure was taken to a very high degree ? there was no limit ? wine was the best and food was the best. And that's where we get that idea of classic beauty. Helen had the face that launched 1,000 ships. Her physical beauty had pushed the envelope to the nth degree. |
For example, one of Odysseus' soldiers became drunk and fell off of a roof. He was relegated to the underworld in shame without the customary warrior's burial. |
Homer's texts are a celebration of humanity. That's what Homer tried to do. |
It is very difficult to transport one story into another culture without including the subjective viewpoint of the editor who transmits it. It may be difficult to understand this work as it existed in a time without the social rules we live with today. |
We like seeing a vision of our own gender as well as that of the opposite sex as the best it can be ? as the ideal. Physical beauty extolled to such a great extent is a wonderful thing. |
Within his stories there are textual references to blind storytellers, remember Homer (the Homers) may not have existed at all. If this was one man, the fact that he could remember such complex stories and legends and tell them with a single, embedded story line is remarkable. That indicates to some that he may have been blind. When one is blind, the other senses are heightened. That is some of the rationale behind the statement that Homer may have been blind. |