The Homeric Questions

Porphyry's Homeric Questions was written in the 3rd century A.D. in response to a friend's request that the philosopher try to recall some of their leisure discussions about problems arising from their readings of Homer. Such literary discussions were commonplace among the educated in antiquity and survive in several works from that period. While Aristotle's Homeric Problems has been lost, fragments do survive, as does a solution offered by Alexander the Great. Most of the discussion, in Porphyry concern the meanings of words and phrases, but some turn to appreciations of the poet's art, such as simile and metaphor, discussions which at times anticipate modern criticism. The present work is a translation with notes and a brief preface to the philosopher's labor of love.