Homer, the poet who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey, is one of the most famous figures of Greek history. That being so, it is ironic that there is so much mystery and controversy surrounding him. One major debate is the question of when he really lived. Did Homer live in the ninth, eighth, or even seventh century BCE? What does the evidence reveal?
Did Homer live in the ninth century BC?
One of the most traditional chronologies for Homer’s life places him in the ninth century BCE. In fact, this comes from the very earliest record about when Homer lived. Around the middle of the fifth century BCE, the Greek historian Herodotus claimed that Homer lived “no more than 400 years” before his own time.
Since Herodotus wrote in the mid-fifth century BCE, that would seem to place Homer in the ninth century BCE. Therefore, ever since Herodotus, many writers have placed Homer in that era.
The major problem with this conclusion is that it contradicts a lot of information in the Iliad. For example, Sparta is a prominent city-state in that poem. However, Sparta only began to emerge as a small settlement around the year 950 BCE. It did not become notable or powerful in any way until well into the following century.
This is just one example, but there are many others. These demonstrate that the Iliad cannot have been the product of the ninth century BCE.
How we can understand Herodotus’ claim
How can we reconcile this with what Herodotus wrote? One major factor which is almost always overlooked is the simple fact that Herodotus did not say that Homer lived 400 years before his own time. He said that he lived no more than that many years prior. In other words, “400 years” was an upper limit.
We know that Herodotus liked to use an average of three generations to a century or about 33 years per generation. Since Herodotus considered that to be the norm, it logically follows that if he was trying to provide an upper limit, a maximum possible date, that is, he would use a greater-than-average generational length.
Based on this reasoning, certain scholars have suggested that Herodotus believed Homer to have lived ten generations prior to his own time and that the reference to “no more than 400 years” is an upper limit based on a lengthy generational average of 40 years.
Did Homer live in the eighth century BCE?
If we were to reduce this from 40 years to 33 years, then counting backwards ten generations from when Herodotus wrote would bring us to around the year 780 BCE. For Homer, this date makes more sense. It matches up better with the details in the Iliad as well as with other information about when he lived.
Many scholars agree that Homer likely lived in the eighth century BCE. However, they tend to place Homer closer to the end of that century. This is generally based on an analysis of the details in the Iliad and the Odyssey, which match the end of the eighth century or even the beginning of the seventh.
For instance, Irene de Jong pointed out that in the Odyssey, Homer presents the Sicilians as trading partners of the Greeks. She argues that this correlates with the era following the establishment of the first Greek trading colony on Sicily. This was around the year 735 BCE.
Therefore, placing Homer in the late-eighth century BCE is a reasonable conclusion and supported by many scholars.
Homer in the seventh century BCE
Nonetheless, not all scholars agree with such a conclusion. There is a growing number of scholars who argue for an even later date. These scholars argue that Homer lived in the seventh century BCE. There is evidence of this from various sources.
One noteworthy point is that, generally speaking, all the details about the world of the Iliad and the Odyssey that match up with the late-eighth century BCE also match the early-seventh century BCE. Thus, these details do not particularly help us differentiate between one century or the other.
There is, however, one corpus of evidence exhibiting distinct differences between the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. This is the warfare portrayed in the Iliad. Historian Hans van Wees analyzed the frequency with which Homer mentioned the use of various weapons and found they closely matched the frequency with which such weapons are portrayed on Greek pottery post-700 BCE.
In contrast, the frequency of certain weapons mentioned in the Iliad is not in the slightest similar to the frequency with which they are shown on Greek pottery prior to 700 BCE. Hence, this points to the possibility that the Iliad is a product of the seventh century BCE rather than the eighth century BCE.
More evidence
There is another significant piece of evidence for this date from Greek pottery. This is almost never mentioned in discussions related to the era during which Homer lived. Throughout the seventh century BCE, we find scenes of the Trojan War on pottery. However, we do not detect any scenes that seem to come specifically from the Iliad.
It is only when we get to around the year 625 BCE that we begin seeing Greek pottery displaying scenes from the Iliad. This shows that the Iliad was not in wide circulation prior to that point. It implies that Homer did not live long prior to that time.
A final piece of evidence which again is generally ignored is related to Pythagoras. He was born around 570 BCE. According to ancient sources, his tutor was a certain Hermodamas of Samos. Hermodamas, in turn, is described as the son of Creophylus. The reason this is so significant is that Creophylus was allegedly a contemporary and companion of Homer.
In other words, Homer was allegedly still alive just two generations prior to Pythagoras. This would definitely mean that Homer lived in the seventh century BCE.
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