Die ratselhafte Gestalt des Dichters und Rhapsoden Homer ragt aus den dunklen Anfangen des Abendlandes in unsere Gegenwart hinein. Uber sein Leben und seine Umwelt ist wenig bekannt, aber sein Werk hat auch nach mehr als zweieinhalb Jahrtausenden noch nichts von seiner Gultigkeit eingebusst. Die beiden grossen Dichtungen Homers, die Ilias und die Odyssee, bezeichnen nicht nur den glanzvollen Beginn des europaischen Epos, sondern der abendlandischen, ja der Weltliteratur uberhaupt. Sie sind die "Urromane" der Menschheit, wie Jean Paul einmal (...) gesagt hat. Die grossten Geister von der Antike bis zur deutschen Klassik, von Vergil bis Goethe haben ihn bewundert und gepriesen und in seinem machtigen Schatten gedichtet. In Homers Heldengesangen vom Kampf um Troja scheinen alle Motive und Triebkrafte der Menschheitsdichtung beispielhaft vorgebildet zu sein: Kampf und Abenteuer, Sieg und Untergang, Liebe und Hass, Heroentum und Niedrigkeit, Mythos und historische Wirklichkeit. So ist Homers Werk Anfang und Vollendung zugleich. Mit Einfuhrung und Literaturhinweisen von A. Heubeck.". (shrink)

Homère nous présente dans l'Odyssée son activite poétique à travers deux aèdes, Phémios et Démodokos, et un conteur hors pair, Ulysse. II s'en degage une conception de la poésie qui apparait comme un melange de vérites et de faussetés. Une telle définition nous conduit, par une réflexion sur les notions de vraisemblable et de monde simulé, a penser la poesie d'Homere comme un recit fictionnel.

The topic of "Einladung zur Odyssee" is the knowledge of the human individual. As knowledge nowadays is always associated with scientific knowledge, and as scientific knowledge is always collective knowledge - and not individual knowledge - this book is not only not scientific, it also tackles a non-topic, a topic that, from the point of view of today's people, simply does not exist. The consequences of this point of view and of this concept that there is no knowledge other (...) than scientific knowledge can be seen in our current educational systems: The mind of a young person can either be adapted to science or it has to be broken. The author of this book is in no manner unscientific and does not have any tendency to the belief in esoteric truths; he just misses (and missed in his life) the understanding of teachers and university professors for the necessity of the individual student to find his own approach to a topic and to find answers to his own questions. This book was inspired by personal experiences during my studies at the University of Vienna like the following: When I tried, in a seminar, to express that I have now understood a certain concept which I did not understand before, and what that means for me, how it modifies other related concepts in my mind, I was regularly shut down by the professor who was offended by my practice of relating a concept to myself, to my own person. Instead of doing that I should relate it to that which is of general interest. (In this occasion I also learned that my professors confunded universality with that which is of general interest.) In short, university professors and persons of scientific character seem to lack the understanding that the head of a student has to wire itself in order to function. This process of wiring itself of students' brains is called learning. Nowadays people seem to have no respect of learning, they do not understand that learning is a sensitive and fragile process which can easily be harmed by professors shutting down students without kowing and even caring about what is currently happening in their brains. (shrink)

In Hippias Minor, Plato does not merely condemn Homer as a reference in ethical matters. He opposes two uses of poetry when it comes to referring to and giving meaning to it: poetry as a source of knowledge admitted and frozen by tradition, ethically normative, and poetry as a source of philosophical questions, conducive to ethical reflection. The debate shows that Socrates’ view of Homer, as well as his Homeric point of view, allow us to ask good and often paradoxical (...) questions about the link between truth, falsity, knowledge and calculation, which are essential for those who want to build solid ethics. The dialogue then shows how the philosopher enriches the meaning of the Homeric text. (shrink)

L’iconologie traditionnelle a fixé la représentation d’un être « inspiré », immobilisé par une soudaine et visible illumination, main levée ou en suspens, regard fixe et aimanté. À l’inverse de cette image arrêtée, on souhaite mettre en valeur la dynamique d’une quête, d’un « voyage des idées ». L’idée même d’inspiration témoigne de glissements notionnels, de reprises et de refontes ; plus encore, elle permet de reconsidérer la métaphore du voyage — voyage des idées et par les idées. En soulignant (...) le lent déplacement notionnel qui ramène l’inspiration du ciel à la terre et de l’extraordinaire à l’ordinaire, on plaidera pour la puissance d’idées « vagabondes ». Les poursuivre oblige à transgresser délimitations et frontières, à construire l’itinéraire hasardeux d’une pensée risquée. (shrink)

Odysseus benefits from his stay on the island of Scheria in two crucial ways. The Phaeacians’ willingness to escort him home secures his physical return to Ithaca. Furthermore, a song performed by the bard Demodocus featuring Odysseus’ quarrel with Achilles helps him regain his identity as one of the foremost Achaean heroes. The second song, the hilarious tale of Ares and Aphrodite, in which the gods erupt in the famous Homeric laughter, then reawakens his emotional capacity for joy and cheerfulness. (...) Since this key function of the song does not appear to have been recognized up to now, it is at the center of the present article. Finally, the third song, in which Odysseus expects Demodocus to highlight his role as mastermind of the capture of Troy, instead draws attention to the horrible suffering of the Trojans and elicits uncontrollable tears on his part, thereby reconnecting him with the fundamental human emotions of compassion and pity. Taken as a whole, the narrative of Odysseus’ development during his stay among the Phaeacians appears to reflect an elaborate therapeutic concept, which is outlined in this article. (shrink)

Journal Name: Philologus Issue: Ahead of print.