Why Would Christians Read Homer?

For many generations there has been widespread reading of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the so-called Homeric Hymns, in the English-speaking world. There are more English translations of Homer’s writings than of the Bible. The stories and characters of Homer’s works are the topics of poems, novels, and essays as much as those of the Bible. Earlier generations were regularly taught in schools and colleges to read Homer in translation, or even in the original Greek, and he was often cited in public oratory and conversation.

It is curious that this assimilation of the pagan writings of Homer, especially the Iliad, occurred in the Christian culture of the English-speaking world. The Iliad, written by the blind poet in 725-675 B.C.E., is an action-packed story of battles more thrilling than that of any Hollywood movie. The Iliad is the saga of the military assault of the Achaens or Greeks against the magnificent city of Troy. The Achaeans had sailed from their city-states, which were then more primitive than they later became, across the sea to attack the rich, fortified city of Troy on the coast of Asia Minor [Turkey] near the Hellespont, the narrow western outlet of the passage from the Black Sea to the Aegean.

The characters in the Iliad are naturally the Achaen and Trojan warriors, but the main figures are Achilles, the angry Achaen warrior who nurtures grudges against an erstwhile fellow soldier Agamemnon and his companions and who because of his grievances delays his entry into the war until the last minute, and Hector, the noble leader of the Trojans who fights to protect his beloved people and their city. It is often said, however, that the real main character of the Iliad is its violence. It is notable that the “work” (ergon) which is described in the Iliad is the killing that takes place. In the end, Achilles kills Hector, and the doom of Troy is inevitable. Although he still lives, Achilles himself is also destined to die soon. The Iliad concludes with the Trojans conducting a hasty but dignified funeral of Hector at dawn while anxiously keeping watch for another assault by the Achaens. The very violent Iliad has been cherished by many generations of English-speaking Christians who profess to be followers of the Lord of a peaceable kingdom. 

Why would Christians read Homer? 

Surely one reason why earlier generations read Homer is that they lacked the blind spot of modernity by which everything novel is considered to be superior to everything old. They possessed the common sensibility that there is wisdom and pleasure in ancient literature which may be appreciated without condoning everything in it. On the expectation that one could acquire something valuable from the past, previous generations had a strong incentive to invest time and energy in the study of classical literature. 

One of the incentives for Christians to read the Iliad is that, despite the overwhelming violence of narrative, it also manifests the dignity of humanity. One might grow weary of reading about one brutal battle after another, no matter how exciting, were it not for the appeal of Homer’s depiction of the humanity of his characters. A glimpse of this depiction is given in Homer’s account of the meeting between Achilles and Priam, the father of Hector. Accompanying a wagon loaded with a precious ransom, the elderly Priam bravely enters the camp of the Achaeans and approaches the killer of his beloved son. The two enemies restrain their wrath and manage to even find empathy and admiration for one another as human beings. During a meal of hospitality, Homer writes, according to Robert Fagles’ vivid translation, “Priam the son of Dardanus gazed at Achilles, marveling now at the man’s beauty, his magnificent build—face-to-face he seemed a deathless god… And Achilles gazed and marveled at Dardan Priam, beholding his noble looks, listening to his words.” This humanistic feature of the Iiad, and also of ancient Greek drama, is a demonstration of the truth of the Christian doctrine of the creation of all human beings in God’s image. In one of his poems, St. Gregory the Theologian speaks of the creation of the human spirit by the Word of God as “a flash of the invisible godhead.” The church fathers often spoke of how God created human beings to stand and walk upright as a sign of their dignity, and many generations of Christians in the past revered the literature of the Greeks that celebrated the divine “flash” in the spirit of imperfect and mortal creatures.

Surely another major factor that accounts for the appreciation of Homer by English-speaking Christians is the heritage of Anglo-Saxon spirituality which is characterized by a commitment to the heroic inherited from pagan Germanic culture. In Anglo-Saxon Spirituality in the series The Classics of Western Spirituality, Robert Boenig explains that a primary reason for the success of Christianity among Anglo-Saxons was its ability to accommodate the honor code of heroism that already existed in paganism as exemplified in Beowulf. The Christian life was viewed as a heroic battle to the end. The saints were revered as spiritual heroes who prevailed in a ceaseless struggle with the “Ancient Foe.” Christ himself was not portrayed as a sacrificial victim but as a heroic redeemer. Christ’s ascension to the cross is described in The Dream of the Rood:  “Then the young hero ungirded himself, he who was God Almighty, strong and stern. He ascended the wretched gallows, mighty in the sight of many, when he wanted to redeem mankind.” Given this Anglo-Saxon heritage, it is no wonder that English-speaking Christians would find it natural to enjoy reading Homer and listening to the lyrics of theIliad that describe the struggles, victories, and defeats of heroes who inspire the spirit of the heroic in all human endeavors, including spirituality.

It may also be the case that Christians are nurtured in the practice of their own piety as they absorb the example of the prayers and sacrifices made by the heroes in the Iliad to their gods and goddesses. Throughout the narrative of the Iliad, the action on earth is observed and ultimately controlled by Father Zeus and even caused on earth by other divinities, such as Hera, Athena, and Poseidon who accompany the Achaens and Ares, Apollo, and Aphrodite who favor the Trojans. To enlist the favor of the divinities, the heroes are careful to pray for their help and to offer bloody sacrifices to appease them. Although Christians have faith in only one God who is good, their own practices of praying, worshiping, and offering the “bloodless sacrifice” of the Eucharist would be inspired by the example of Homer’s heroes. Imagine an English schoolboy who grows up in the Church of England. He has been taught to treat the faith of the church with respect and encouraged to say his prayers and to attend worship. Not until he begins to study Homer in earnest has he encountered a world where people take their religion so seriously and never engage in anything important without first seeking divine favor and help. The boy realizes that an essential element of becoming an adult is practicing one’s faith. And, as he begins to be more earnest in his prayer and worship, he discovers by experience how every one of us is created with an intrinsic need to offer our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God ” (Romans 12:1 NIV) and to learn to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV). As strange as it sounds, it may be that there is a link between the study of classical literature and Christian vitality in that the earnestness of a more religious age, even a pagan one, inspires and instructs those of us who profess Christianity in our godless and materialistic world.

Timothy W. Whitaker is a Retired United Methodist Church bishop who served the Florida Area.