In this fourth and final installment of my essay, I discuss the Cyclic poems (the six outside the Iliad and the Odyssey which have not survived) in context of the Iliad and whether our common belief in the Unity is fully justified. I suggest it is not, and propose a hypothesis as to how it came about through the merging of two separate traditions: one dating from the late Bronze Age and another that evolved under the tumultuous conditions of 8th century BC Greece. I then close with some tentative conclusions. Keep reading…
