Reflections and questions of reading week #4

I think this week was a great experience for me to meet Three genius, Homer, Plato and Havelock.

Of Homer's Iliad, when we think of historic period, BC 800, when there was not prevalent reading culture, it' s so amazing work. Its main themes seem to be focused on human's basic instincts, like putting the priority to the woman's beauty (the standard would be different from now, though), power game between men, hardship of making a decision at a certain moment.
I could understand more about that period of time's background, like established independent many 'police', or identifying themselves as descendents from God, Helen.

With using drawing or symbols, we could communicate each other, but it must be very simple message. The length and depth of story in Iliad makes me reminds of like the Bible at that time.

After about 400 years later, Plato attacks the role of poets in Homer's period, like " There were not sufficient in conveying the truth. It just shows the content by means of directly represented action by poets, which is just a 'Mimesis'.

And currently, Havelock, who says 'medium afftecs society' and suggests 'the importance of oral culture', gives a negative look to educational role of the poets during Homer's period. When the poets perform, means convey the message of epic, the audience must have been engaged too much and totally identified with the roles of characters or messages. It's more difficult than just passive learning. The people on that time period may have reacted as they heard, without thinking.

But, considering several factors of those period of time, like poet's directly delivering message only with spoken language, limited by time and space, people's way of thinking must have been very simple and could be absorbed a lot without learner's constructing knowledge, which is not good from current point of view. But isn't it true also that Homer's Iliad upgraded, means more possible abstract and complicated thinking of people and let them know how to do in a certain situation, it's a mono way, though, they could have learned about more strong identity as a Greek people or could have talked about it as a new agenda with their friends and families. Just I've thought about that.