“There were poets before Homer.”
This simple, declarative sentence comes from the Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. At first glance, it seems like an obvious historical fact. Of course, other people created poetry before the man credited with the Iliad and the Odyssey. However, Cicero’s statement carries a much deeper weight. It serves as a powerful reminder about the nature of history, the illusion of beginnings, and the vast, unrecorded tapestry of human creativity. The quote challenges us to look beyond the famous names that survived the ages. It asks us to acknowledge the countless forgotten voices that paved the way.
The Colossus of Ancient Poetry: Homer
To grasp the full impact of Cicero’s words, we must first understand Homer’s monumental stature. Homer is not just another ancient poet; he is the traditional starting point of the Western literary canon. His epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were foundational texts for ancient Greek culture. They provided a shared mythology, a moral framework, and a basis for education for centuries. Generations of Greeks learned about heroism, honor, and the whims of the gods from his verses.
Indeed, the influence of these works is almost impossible to overstate. They shaped Greek art, philosophy, and politics. Later, they became cornerstones of Roman and, eventually, all Western education. For many, Homer represents the dawn of literature itself. He is seen as the singular genius who conjured epic poetry into existence. This perception, however, is precisely what Cicero’s quote gently dismantles. Homer was not a beginning. Instead, he was the brilliant culmination of a tradition that was already ancient in his own time.
The Oral Tradition Before the Written Word
Long before stories were written down, they were spoken, sung, and shared. This is the world of oral tradition, where bards and storytellers were the living libraries of their cultures. They memorized vast catalogues of myths, legends, and histories. Furthermore, they used complex poetic structures and formulas to aid their recall and captivate their audiences. These poets were the anonymous artists who existed long before Homer.
Scholars now widely believe that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not invented from whole cloth. Source They were products of this rich oral tradition. . Homer, whether a single person or a collective of poets, drew from a deep well of existing stories about the Trojan War and its heroes. His genius was in weaving these disparate threads into the cohesive, masterful epics we know today. He gave a permanent, written form to a fluid and evolving art. Therefore, he stands not at the start of a tradition, but as its most famous and successful practitioner.
Cicero’s Perspective: A Look Back from Rome
When Cicero made his statement in his work Brutus, he did so with the benefit of historical perspective. As a highly educated Roman, he was an inheritor of Greek culture. He studied its philosophy, rhetoric, and literature extensively. He understood that the great figures of Greece did not emerge from a vacuum. Cicero recognized that culture is a cumulative process. Each generation builds upon the foundations laid by its predecessors.
His observation was a scholarly one. It acknowledged that what survives is not always what came first. History is a filter, and a brutal one at that. Countless poems, songs, and stories have been lost to time. They were lost because they were never written down, or the manuscripts crumbled to dust, or their language was forgotten. Homer survived because his work was deemed essential and was copied and preserved with immense care. The poets before him were just as real, but their legacy is silent.
The Universal Truth: No Art Is an Island
Cicero’s quote extends far beyond ancient poetry. It contains a universal truth about all forms of creativity and innovation. No artist, scientist, or thinker works in complete isolation. The romantic notion of a lone genius creating something entirely new is largely a myth. In reality, progress is a collaborative and incremental process, even if the collaborators are separated by centuries.
For example, Isaac Newton famously said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” He acknowledged his debt to the scientists who came before him, like Galileo and Kepler. The same is true in music. Beethoven studied the works of Mozart and Haydn before composing his revolutionary symphonies. In the world of technology, Steve Jobs did not invent the computer or the mouse. Instead, he brilliantly synthesized and improved upon existing ideas to create something new and transformative.
This principle reminds us to approach history with humility. The famous names we celebrate are often the ones who perfected an idea, not the ones who first conceived it. Consequently, behind every Homer, there are countless forgotten poets whose voices laid the groundwork. Their contributions are invisible but essential.
Conclusion: Appreciating the Unseen Foundations
“There were poets before Homer.” This simple phrase from Cicero is a profound meditation on memory and the nature of history. It gently corrects our tendency to pinpoint a single origin for complex cultural traditions. Homer remains a pillar of Western literature, a poet of unparalleled skill and influence. However, he was not a solitary peak that emerged from a flat plain. He was the highest mountain in a long and ancient range.
Ultimately, the quote encourages us to appreciate the vast, silent chorus of creators who came before the recorded masters. It reminds us that our cultural heritage is built on foundations we cannot always see. The stories we tell, the songs we sing, and the art we create are all part of a continuous stream of human expression flowing through millennia. Homer gave that stream a monumental channel, but the river was flowing long before him.