Thestorides of Phocaea ( el, Θεστορίδης) was a legendary or semi-legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic ''

Little Iliad The ''Little Iliad'' (Greek: , ''Ilias mikra''; la, parva Illias) is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of t ...

'' was ascribed. Thestorides figures as a major character in the fictional ''

Life of Homer The ''Life of Homer'', whose unknown author is referred to as Pseudo-Herodotus, is one among several ancient biographies of the Greek epic poet, Homer. It is distinguished from the others by the fact that it contains, in its first lines, the claim ...

'' fraudulently ascribed to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

. According to this, when

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

came to

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, in ...

Thestorides offered him food and lodging in exchange for the right to record his poetry in

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

. Homer had little choice but to accept, and recited to Thestorides the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'', the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

'' and also an epic on local history and legend, ''

Phocais The ''Phocais'' ( grc-gre, Φωκαΐς) was an ancient Greek epic attributed to Homer. In the ''Life of Homer'', a biography of Homer falsely attributed to Herodotus, it was said to have been written while Homer lived at Phocaea Phocaea or Pho ...

''. This story is unique among the ancient legends concerning Homer as it embodies the claim that writing was known in Homer's circle; all other sources state or imply that Homer's poems were transmitted orally to his followers or descendants. The ''Life'' adds that Thestorides afterwards moved to

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

, where he performed Homer's poems as if they were his own and became famous. Homer heard rumours of this and eventually travelled to Chios also; Thestorides, threatened with disgrace, left the island hastily.

Bibliography

* *{{Citation , surname=Lefkowitz , given=Mary R. , author-link=Mary R. Lefkowitz , title=The lives of the Greek poets , publisher=Duckworth , publication-place=London , year=1981 , ISBN=0-7156-1590-4 Epic poetry collectors Early Greek epic poets Ancient Phocaeans