/lit/ - Literature

>>18346172
>>18346183

Also worth noting that Homer was likely writing during the Greek Dark Ages. Many classical authors write about this period as an age of piracy and lawlessness. If Homer lived during this time, he likely bore witness to plundered city-states and all of the evils that come from war. The pirates of that age would have devastated local economies, likely living in their ships going from city to city, invading any poorly defended population centers all the while raping and pillaging, until they moved onto their next target and repeated the cycle. This accounts for much of the lack of literature regarding this period, everything was subject to plunder and destruction.

The general instability of this time may have been part of Homer's inspiration for the Iliad. The final virtue of the story is that it is important to be decent and humane, even during wartime against your enemies.