An Apostrophe ' to Homer

 

 

 

 

 

Homer, of long ages past,
you came during the end of the dark ages of Greece,
before classical Greek times,
you, a blind poet carrying in his mind
the Iliad an Odyssey in their entirety 
in verse and song,
venerating the already ancient Trojan War
of the Myceneaens.
If you could tell us of your own times,
we would find an equally great story.
Would we listen in our noisy times?

 

Your work is still held above all poets of all times.
Your songs retold the first epic event
that unified Greece and ignited its greatness,
though your unflattering portrayal of the Gods angered many!

 

They say you sang ten epics of the Trojan War,
but only two have been passed down to us.
So come back and sing us the other eight!

 

..........................................................

 

Homer, blind Homer,
without you, “Achilles’ Choice” would have been in vain-
that of his choosing fame and dying young
rather than living a long, happy life in obscurity.
He put his everlasting fame in your traveling hands!

 

Without you, O’ blind minstrel,
Odysseus’ adventures and his honorable choice to remain mortal
would also have faded in time,
along with countless other lessons 
man has managed to lose through the ages.

 

The classical Greece of the Dorians and Ionians
centered on your Myceneaen tale,
giving strength in time of crisis and peril,
and forming the core of a great civilization.

 

Rest easy, Homer, thou bright passionate flame in the darkness,
The Iliad and the Odyssey to this day shine
as one of mankind’s brightest beacons,
the measure of all works since,
and as yet unsurpassed in its impact
among non-religious and non-scientific literature.

 

..........................................................................

 

Homer, you dealt with human strengths and weaknesses
in all their glory, in all their evil,
and delved deep into the value
of a simple, anonymous mortal existence.
In your time abounded the tragedies of human savagery.

 

Homer, we thank you for bearing
the highest cultural achievement of your people.

 

Within fifty years after the Phoenicians
taught the Greeks to write again,
your epics were written down.
This must have comforted your soul.

 

Two words you repeated in your songs
more than all others- ‘honor’ and ‘greatness’.
If you had to choose the greatest legacy you left behind
then there they are, in those two words;
though to be truthful, they have caused their share of trouble since!

 

.....................................................................................

 

Something tells me you did not become a minstrel for fame,
or even for fortune, in the later half of the 8th century B.C. when you walked this earth.
There is a love and reverence present in your words,
and you had a gift which cannot be denied.

 

You still make us think, Homer,
blind bard of the ancient world!

 

Your name today still evokes a reassuring image
of greatness and honor within our modern civilizations
and hope for mankind
that will in itself stand the tests of time!

 

 

 

 

 

Bloopers:
Hey, Homer, what’s up, dude?
Oh, Homer, thy bard of epic nonsense!
Homer, my Homer, of long ages past,
get thee back to the store shelves
and the school libraries of today!

Our reassuring modern image
of your greatness and honor: