Homer and the Foundation of Classical Civilization

While Homer has always been regarded as a poet of the first rank, it is forgotten today that such philosophic figures as Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and Machiavelli considered him to be a foundational political, moral, and philosophic thinker as well, indeed, as the theoretical founder of Greek civilization. By reflecting on Homer, we can recognize the two most distinctive and fundamental features of classical civilization: first, its humanism—that is, its celebration of human excellence over divine greatness; and secondly, its philosophic rationalism—that is, its elevation of the contemplative life of the mind over the political and military life of action. As a result of Homer's influence, two of the distinguishing features of Greek Civilization were to be its extraordinary celebration of the beauty of the human animal, body and soul, as can be seen in Greek athletics, Greek sculpture, and Greek nudity; and also its singularly questioning posture toward the divine, as can be seen in Greek philosophy.