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Description
This 1967 lecture by Heinrich Blücher examines Homer as a foundational “breaker of myth” whose poetic work established the metaphysical and cultural assumptions of Greek civilization. Blücher situates Homer within a broader historical shift from mythic unity toward differentiated human, world, and divine consciousness, arguing that Homer uniquely humanized the gods while affirming human freedom, finitude, and responsibility. Through close discussion of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the lecture interprets Achilles and Odysseus as complementary figures of human life—youthful heroic action and mature self-realization—set within a cosmos governed by law, fate, and reason rather than divine absolutes. Blücher presents Homeric poetry as the origin of Greek art, philosophy, politics, and science, contending that a poetic vision of freedom, balance, and fulfilled mortality shaped the Hellenic world for centuries.
Publication Date
1967
Recommended Citation
Blücher, Heinrich, "04-IV. Homer (1967)" (1967). Bazelow Transcripts. 4.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/blucher-bazelow-transcripts/4