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Full Idea
Did not Homer write to show us that the noblest, the strongest, the richest, the handsomest of men may nevertheless be the most unfortunate and wretched, if they do not hold the judgements that they ought to hold?
Gist of Idea
Homer wrote to show that the most blessed men can be ruined by poor judgement
Source
Epictetus (The Discourses [c.56], 4.10.36)
Book Ref
Epictetus: 'The Discourses, The Handbook, Fragments', ed/tr. Gill,C [Everyman 1995], p.277
A Reaction
This seems to be right. He clearly wrote about the greatest and most memorable events of recent times, but not just to record triumphs, because almost every hero (in the Iliad, at least) ends in disaster.
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| 16566 | Poetry is more philosophic than history, as it concerns universals, not particulars [Aristotle] |
| 20873 | Tragedies are versified sufferings of people impressed by externals [Epictetus] |
| 23364 | Homer wrote to show that the most blessed men can be ruined by poor judgement [Epictetus] |
| 22030 | For poets free choice is supreme [Schlegel,F] |
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| 21939 | The author function of any text is a plurality of selves [Foucault, by Gutting] |
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| 20927 | The hermeneutic circle is between the reader's self-understanding, and the world of the text [Zimmermann,J] |