Reactions to re-reading the Iliad

Some postscripts on our discussion of the Iliad.

On Greek views of the gods: from Britannica.com:
Greek mythology -body of stories concerning the gods, heroes, and rituals of the ancient Greeks. That the myths contained a considerable element of fiction was recognized by the more critical Greeks, such as the philosopher Plato in the 5th–4th centuries bc. In general, however, in the popular piety of the Greeks, the myths were viewed as true accounts. Greek mythology has subsequently had extensive influence on the arts and literature of Western civilization, which fell heir to much of Greek culture.

From Wapedia on literary sources of Greek mythology:
The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the Theogony and the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths also are preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.

A short discussion of Greek & Jewish interactions around 3rd century BCE is at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Greeks.html

On the date of Genesis, from Answers.com:
It is traditionally ascribed to Moses, but modern scholarship has identified at least three literary strains in it, dating from 950 BC to the 5th century BC, though incorporating material from much earlier.

A lengthy article on "Morality and virtue in poetry and philosophy: a reading of Homer's Iliad XXIV" is at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6691/is_1_16/ai_n29061592/pg_1?tag=content;col1

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