UCL LUNCH HOUR LECTURES

Dr Antony Makrinos (UCL Greek & Latin)
Homer has always been an influential poet. The texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey have been part of people’s entertainment and education for years from antiquity to Roman times. However, during the Byzantine times, the Christians study their own “classical” writers. But does this mean that the Homeric texts were not favourably received and lost their educational importance in Byzantine classrooms? Scholars disagree on the nature of the role the Homeric texts played in Byzantine education. The lecture will explore the issue drawing on the case of Eustathius Homeric Commentaries and the use of allegorical interpretation for the teaching of Homer to a Christian audience.