Fleetly-presented Homer

One of the many advantages of living near a major university is the ability to attend events aimed at the non-student population. Last night, a friend and I attended the first lecture in a three-part series sponsored by the University of Washington Alumni Association, entitled The Treasures of Greece. The speaker was Carol G. Thomas, a UW history professor specializing in classical studies.

Sometimes these series are outstanding, sometimes merely interesting. After hearing last night's lecture, I suspect that Professor Thomas found herself being talked into delivering an extremely broad topic in a very limited period of time. Last night's two-hour lecture was to cover Greek history up to the classical period; next week's will "do" the Hellenistic era; and the third and final lecture will cover Greece in modern times. In light of the fact that Professor Thomas began her lecture last night twenty minutes late, that there was a 15-minute intermission, that there were persistent problems with her microphone and the visual projection equipment, and that 15 minutes were reserved at the end for questions from the audience -- well, there wasn't much time remaining in a two hour period to discuss Greece in all its splendor.

Professor Thomas asked and addressed the question of whether Homer's world really existed, an issue that I thought had been fairly clearly answered, at least in part, since Schlieman's excavations at Troy early in the last century. Nevertheless, she did show some interesting photos of the excavations. She also discussed some recent discoveries in ancient Hittite writings -- the Hittites had achieved a form of writing while the Greeks were still pre-literate -- that appear to confirm the existence and economic importance of a number of locations in Asia Minor that are described in the Iliad.

She also played a recording of an excerpt from the Iliad recited in ancient Greek, demonstrating the rather hypnotizing effect of poetry composed in dactylic hexameter, and she reminded us how the catch phrases that are repeated over and over in Homer -- "rosy-fingered dawn," "wine-dark sea," "fleet-footed Achilles" -- together with the regular meter helped ancient bards to memorize lengthy epics like the Iliad before writing was available.

The UW, until recently, presented these history series almost every academic quarter, usually eight to ten lectures per series. It's unfortunate that they are now being offered only once a year, and that the series this year has been truncated to three lectures.

Greek history before the classical era is, taken alone, a fascinating subject, and a subject of general appeal -- an appeal revealed by the large attendance last night, completely filling one of the largest auditoriums on campus. It's unfortunate that the university is unable to provide a lengthier and more in-depth series on the topic, aimed at general alumni audiences.