Homer's Writing

The writing of Homer were influential to the Greeks because they told a story. No other texts in the Western society have had such an impact as Homer's writing, the Iliad and the Odyssey. They both concern the great defining moment of the Greek society, the Trojan War. Whether or not this war occurred or occurred as the Greeks narrate it, it still gave a story line on how the Greeks lived. Through the writing's of Homer, the Greeks saw the Trojan War as the first moment in history when the Greeks came to together as one people with a common purpose. As the Greek idea of culture changed, so did their stories about the Trojan War.

Little is known about Homer's life except that he wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. Some scholars believed that he was born in Ionia in the ninth century B.C. The meaning of the name Homer is hostage. Both stories consist of twenty four books. Ancient Greeks not only learned about his writing but were also well educated by them.

There are two very important words portrayed in Homer's writing and they are arete and ergon. The idea arete is one of the strongest and clearest values of Homer's writing about the Greeks. The word arete means "virtue" and " being the best you can be." The importance of this word is that it implies that the Greeks saw their world as one in which each persons actions played an important role in life and how effective the person was to their world. The word ergon means good, hard, work. Without this a society cannot exist especially for the Greeks. Arete and ergon both intertwine with each other in the Greek culture shown in Homer's writing.

The Iliad and the Odyssey were the two great epic poems which said to have marked the beginning of the European cultural heritage. The writings of Homer help to tell us a little about Troy and the Greeks though the whole story is not true. The epic poems of Homer contain certain events and scenes which reflect and resemble the History of the Greeks. Homer's writing have a background to the Greek life and they tell us the significance of the Greeks. ( Freeman 45-48)

No one today is sure when the writing of Homer were set down and written. The writing of Homer reflected the times of the Ancient Greeks. The two epic poems show a knowledge of oversea settlements known to be in the Mycenaean era. These stories express the beginning of a growing identification between the Greeks and other people. These stories also show how the Greeks never reached unity of action. Or in other words it means they did not share much life together as a civilization. ( Bauer 352)

The Iliad and The Odyssey with their captivating stories and magnificent characters, have had a major impact on artists and writers today. Homer has had a major impact not only on how a person fits into the bigger picture, but on how to understand the bigger picture itself. The Ancient Greek writers have had an impact on providing a powerful model for the western cultures. Homer's writings have also had an amazing effect on Western literature. The cultural roots of Western Civilization are deep in the events of the Ancient Greeks. These writings have had a long powerful influence on many amazing western thinkers.

Bauer, Wise, Susan. The History of the Ancient World. New York: Norton & Company, Inc, 2007
Freeman, Charles. The Greek Achievement. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc, 1999

The New Kingdom of Egypt

The New Kingdom of Egypt was from about 1570 to 1069 B.C. For about two hundred years between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the beginning of the New Kingdom, invasion and the horror of foreign rulers, had completely changed the Egyptian's way of thinking about their world. During this time Egypt for the first time became a military state. Armies started to flourish as they began their own invasions outside of Egypt. (Lassieur 58-60)

Ahmose became the first king of the New Kingdom. The land of Egypt was in ruins and its people were demoralized.King Ahmose and his successors lifted Egypt up once again and brought it back to power. Egypt and the kings who ruled during the New Kingdom would never again be the center of the universe. The New Kingdom was the last hallmark of the Egyptians civilization. The New Kingdom was a time of atonishing achievement in art and architecture. This was the most powerful and prosperous time in Egypt. At this time Egypt had many great rulers who strengthened the empire.(Lassieur 59)

The New Kingdom was also the Age of the Empire because during this time ambitious pharoahs build a large empire. One of the most important pharoahs of the New Kingdom was the first female ruler Queen Hatshepsut. Her step son was too young to take the throne so she ruled in his place. Later on she claimed herself pharoah, because the Egyptians saw kingship as a male privilege, she wore a fake beard and was portrayed as a male. Hatshepsut encouraged trade and improved trade with other countries. Her greatest achievement was when she sent a expedition to Punt and from this she recieved many gifts.

The New Kingdom consisted of 3 dynasties, the eighteenth through the twentieth. The pharoahs of the New Kingdom were the most well known amoungst all the pharoahs of Egypt. The first pharoah of the eighteenth dynasty was Ahmose I. He pushed the Hittites out of Egypt. The first pharoah of the nineteeth dynasty was Ramesses I. He only ruled for a period of two years. The first pharoah of the twentieth dynasy was Ramesses IV. He sent expeditions to Sinai for stone for statues.

The New Kingdom was not only successful with their military but also with trade. The Egyptians had trade relations during the New Kingdom with the Nubians, Hittites, and other cities farther beyond that. The foreigners contributed to the Egyptians during the New Kingdom. The foreigners brought prosperity to Egypt which provided the means to enlarge and build new temples and cities. During the end of the nineteeth dynasty Egypt began to lose their prosperity and stability.

The New Kingdom began to collapse because of no political unity. Unity played a big part in the New Kingdom because without it the empire would be weakened and it would have no support. The Hittite Empire was attacked by outsiders called the" Sea Peoples." Not much is known about the sea peoples but that they detroyed the Hittite Empire. Later on the Sea Peoples came and attacked Egypt, this ended the New Kingdom. Egypt was not controlled by the Sea Peoples but later on they went to war against each other and the Egyptians won. This started the 3rd Intermediate Period.

Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt. New York: Henry Holt & Company, Inc, 1996.
Lassieur, Allison. The Ancient Egyptians. San Diego:Lucent Books Inc, 2001.