TheEssays0nline 2 | 12 Company Representative
Apr 28, 2015 | #1
The Odyssey and The Bards as Homer
The Bards as Homer refers to in The Odyssey from Verses 469-585 speak of how Homer describes Demodocus and how important it is for him to express himself and how each word he speaks and performs changes people affects them and affects the turning of effects down to the heart melting reference aimed at Odysseus (otherwise also referred to as Ullysseus in Roman references)(Poetryintranslation, n.d).
Homer was known as the Blind Bard and performed his poems skits and his works of art for noblemen and Greek poetry patrons, the way Homer describes bards he associates so much power to these bards that their words spoke of such moral and clarity that it made people see things clearer change perspectives and would metaphorically melt Odysseus' heart upon hearing the poem and the voice of the bard (Poetryintranslation, n.d).
The term Bard can be extrapolated into the singers and poets of this age too notable figures that speak of cultures like rap (which I should explain originally stood for Rhyme And Poetry) convey how they were brought up or what they perceive would be defined as their ideal cultures or vocal artists like Akon and Eminem and Tupac aimed at reaching out to people based on what their morals or values taught them and employed these values to convey what these values triggered in them what memory or what contingency they can associate to convey with the morals they employed to associate the message through. Now imagine you could rush up to an exam studying listening to something uplifting like survival or Rap god by Eminem it would convey a peace or a drive a motivation of a sort that hyped you up and got you prepared this can be associated to warriors of all eras e.g. On board ships mostly in earlier times say around the 1600s people sang shanties and motivational poems with a certain beat it's in every culture and without such people society and in some cases many a people get affected by these people its like a ripple effect they cause actions that finally conclude a future that would not exist with the absence of some of these artists work (Poetryintranslation, n.d)..
You could go as far as saying that most of the things we fight for can be triggered by such artists hitting a nerve triggering a deep-seated issues or generally hype up someone these actions can change a lot more than they seem to do considering the ripple effect one could say every soldier put together couldn't change as much of the future as one artist could from inspiring through their music or lyrics it's about how you see the big picture today a song could generate a whole generation's mentality or social or mental disorder similarly one song with the right kind of message across could change a person's perspective of life just like going to war would it's just that the bard or singer or artist whichever you prefer has a larger following than the soldiers out their fighting for their countries most of them consist of the followings.
It can quite easily be assumed that bards could almost directly be traced into the future as poets writers novelists musicians down to even the editor given a following that would show that to some extent as a bard you could just understand how the message can be conveyed even though it may be exaggerated or extrapolated but would generate the same motivation or drive in different people (Poetryintranslation, n.d)..
It's about understanding that if I soldier goes to war and wins wars does heroic deeds but does not get recorded or awarded for it the whole point of the soldier having an edge over people would die out now if a renowned bard like figure could send out an emotionally associated heartfelt poem on the soldiers heroics his legacy would have been encased permanently in history from peon to prince from the fool to the politician everyone would have a certain effect from that soldier. Its common conveyance if one can see past the theatricality the messages are clear but the style of conveyance differs with genres in our times and can be seen clearly from associative songs like Metallica - One can be easily associated to the misadventure possibility in a war from a soldier's perspective the risk associated only makes us think of the bravery of the soldier who after considering such possibility to stand for their country and how a song or a poem is enough to arm a human with the wits and strength one may need to face off a task presumed beyond reach.
Things like these can give a person motivation or faith in oneself like the USM use the "I don't know what I've been told...." Chants again generate an attitude and without the will of such bards and singers and artists of this caliber the inspiration level on most people may fall due their immense following a couple words about a certain basketball team before a match could pump up the whole team to outperform themselves and like that a bard can be associated to such inputs to generate inspiration motivation and values metal is basically associated to the concept of expression rap focuses more on the message conveyed loosely focusing on how its conveyed and like that one could say an artist could be more vital for a certain country or world events backing to motivate and inspire people to influence a certain attitude or specific moral or associated morals (Poetryintranslation, n.d).
A "BARD" per se could influence you to doubt everything and everyone you come across and in touch with simply with a few words if translated from what Homer expresses.... It wasn't one person he referred to generally it's the ideology and morals that are triggered to deduce certain destined actions already triggered into peoples of their times including ours. All that differs is how many people are within earshot of such Bard derivatives today. Even at the time Bards as referred by Homer in the Odyssey had the power even accepted by the "gods".
Another widely known fact is that bards were mostly about motivation or conquest as per the request of the patron he was bound to showcase in his work a bard in today's sense would also translate to a really good salesman too as in how to sell what to who just like bards constructed poems and epic stories based on the adventures of people just like Odyssey was based on Ullysseus as Odysseus.
Some of the reference in the Odyssey also convey that bards were people of influence and motivation ergo they can also be extrapolated to public speakers and politicians in that case during campaigns etc. it's about how the profession is viewed and in what reference you aim to see it a bard had many a job during those times now we can relate to the significant job of a bard from the works and many professions that are available in our times that derive from the mere concept of what a bard could do (Poetryintranslation, n.d).
Man for many an era has looked for the many things it needs to be fueled for a job a bards job was to motivate inspire and reinvent concepts to be widely accepted and noted by history as turning points in different eras as we can relate the times Homer speaks of relate to the Trojan War and the events that followed after for ten more years after the war. It is the beauty of Homer's simplicity and emotional content that the Odyssey awakens such a drive in men like The Epics of Gilgamesh 2100BC and those of Napoleon, Pharoahs, and kings and royalty before those times its about understanding how important and downplayed are the roles of the bard. The concept itself is nothing more than an entertainer but like a fool kept by a noble yet like a historian a bard records and like a novelist weaves the threads of his poem and with the emotion of a coach or a manager of a football team express the motivation so strongly few could resist it.
Homer conveyed volumes of the resolve and strength of Odysseus throughout the Odyssey which alone can stand witness to the influencial prowess of bards in that era as in our times are enjoyed by rockstars poets novelists coaches and many more such valuably under-rated professions that convey emotion power and concept every song has a them and with time it became more generalized and would finally be like marketing a thought to a whole generation . the effect of such people on the world is unnoticeable but very strong and very wide and its something that guides some drives some inspires few and creates a need for an innovation of the concept by the few who actually understand the power held by the descendant professions of the Bard.
Now the rare concept of appreciation did not widely exist then but now it plays a whole different part on it its alike a combination of all these amazingly derived professions would be so devoted that it would be treated almost as a luxury whereas the influence these bards had on the very people that hired them was unimaginably strong and unknowingly caused some massive ripples in time when needed. Concepts of Old employ these ideas to generate many new ideas and a lot of conspiracy theories work quite smartly around using such concepts because these are the effects on human nature we studied centuries after they took place where although used and employed and incorporated as tradition it was not fully understood and now in our times the bards have taken over there is no need looking to inspire people through movements its about giving them a reason to rebel to fight for what they believe in or to get them to conform to the norms of the time and what is required of them. And so like times as far back as Homer's and as far forward as present day the name of the profession has changed and derivatives generated but the main job the sole task still stands the same (Poetryintranslation, n.d).
References:
Homer: The Odyssey, Book VIII, n.d, Bk VIII:1-61 The Phaeacians ready a ship to Bk VIII:521-585