Lecture - Homer through the eyes of philosophers

In The Republic, Plato said that Homer was often regarded as the educator of Greece. However, not all Greek philosophers agreed on the identity of the poet to whom The Iliad and The Odyssey were attributed. While some, including Plato himself, criticized these stories for their possible moral influence and their anthropomorphizing of the gods, others looked to the Homeric texts as a fount of deeper wisdom.

This lecture will explore how Greek philosophers interpreted and regarded Homer’s epics and how The Iliad and The Odyssey can be used as reflection points for major questions, such as human nature, values, and morality.

With Louis-André Dorion, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Full Professor, Université de Montréal. Louis-André Dorion is a world-renowned specialist in ancient philosophy. While he has published extensively on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, he is best known for his translation and commentary on Xenophon’s Memorabilia, which has greatly contributed to the current resurgence of scholarship on Xenophon’s Socratic works. The first edition of his book on Socrates came out in 2004 and has been translated into eight languages.