Seventh LifeἝβδομος Βίος
Homer Life-anonymous Seventh Life PDF
The Seventh Life is a pseudepigraphical prose biography spuriously attributed to Homer. It belongs to a late antique or Byzantine tradition of fictional Lives of Homer, which contain largely legendary material about the poet’s origins. The title suggests it was one among several such accounts. The work is a legendary biography that fits within the established genre of Homeric pseudepigrapha. It is obscure and not mentioned in standard sources for Homeric studies; its description as a single passage indicates it is either a very short text or a fragment, possibly preserved in a later manuscript compilation. While the text itself had no discernible influence, it exemplifies the enduring cultural practice of crafting fictional narratives around the iconic figure of Homer, reflecting later audiences’ interests in the poet’s lore rather than historical fact.
| 1 | Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ Πάφιος ἱστορεῖ τὸν Ὅμηρον υἱὸν Αἰγυπτίων Δμασαγόρου καὶ Αἴθρας· τροφὸν δὲ αὐτοῦ προφῆτίν τινα θυγατέρα Ὤρου ἱερέως Ἴσιδος, ἧς ἐκ τῶν μαστῶν μέλι ῥεῦσαί ποτε εἰς τὸ στόμα τοῦ παιδίου. καὶ τὸ βρέφος ἐν νυκτὶ φωνὰς ἐννέα προέσθαι· χελιδόνος, ταῶνος, περιστερᾶς, κορώνης, πέρδικος, πορφυρίωνος, ψαρός, ἀηδόνος καὶ κοττύφου. εὑρεθῆναί τε τὸ παιδίον μετὰ περιστερῶν ἐννέα παῖζον ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης, εὐωχουμένην δὲ παρὰ τοῖς τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν Σίβυλλαν ἐμμανῆ γεγονυῖαν ἔπη σχεδιάσαι, ὧν ἀρχὴ Δμασαγόρα πολύνικε, ἐν οἷς καὶ μεγακλεῆ καὶ στεφανίτην αὐτὸν προσειπεῖν, καὶ ναὸν κτίσαι κελεῦσαι ἐννέα Πιερίδων· ἐδήλου δὲ τὰς μούσας. τὸν δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι καὶ τῷ παιδὶ ἀνδρωθέντι ἐξειπεῖν τὸ πρᾶγμα. καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν οὕτω σεμνῦναι τὰ ζῷα οἷς βρέφος ὢν συνέπαιζε, καὶ ποιῆσαι αὐτὰ τῷ Διὶ τὴν ἀμβροσίαν κομίζοντα. |