The Greek Epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey are well known, but what is not so well known is their origin, despite the common belief they are Homer's creation.
Where are they from, are the stories Classical Greek? Mycenean? Or from elsewhere in time and place?
This video looks at these Epics and looks at the stories within them, comparing them to other stories from other cultures, before finding one Greek myth that was told long before the proto Indo Europeans. One of the oldest stories in the world that we know to date.
With special thanks to Professor Ken Dowden whose lectures inspired me.
Jon F White is the YouTuber behind Creganford, academic videos discussing Indo-European mythology, history, and culture.
From the Vikings to the Vedas, from Zeus to Zoroastrianism, and from Sacrifices to Spirituality, the channel talks about Europe's earliest people, the farmers, the Proto Indo-Europeans, and the cultures and religions that followed.
The channel is named after a town mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, a place where Jon F White grew up.
Sources:
- Geneticists Estimate Publication Date of The Iliad, Scientific American, February 27, 2013, Joel Shurkin
- The Oldest Extant Parvan-List of the Mahābhārata, Dieter Schlingloff, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Apr. - Jun., 1969, Vol. 89, No. 2, pp. 334-338
- The Orpheus Myth in North America, A. H. Gayton, The Journal of American Folklore , Jul. - Sep., 1935, Vol. 48, No. 189, pp. 263-293
- The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology ("Sather Classical Lectures," Vol. VIII). By Martin Nilsson, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1932. Pp. 258
- The Folk-Tale Origins of the Iliad and Odyssey, Malcom Davies, Wiener Studien , 2002, Vol. 115, pp. 5-43
READ MORE: Hippocrates: The Greek Father of Modern Medicine.
