Homerids

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Descendants or followers of the ancient Greek poet known for epic works such as the Iliad and the Odyssey; members of a family or group historically linked to the poetic tradition attributed to this figure; individuals or scholars associated with the cultural and literary legacy originating from the attributed author of those epics
2. Individuals tracing their lineage or affiliation to the legendary poet credited with composing major Greek epic poems; a group notably connected through heritage or scholarly interest to the epic storytelling tradition ascribed to this historic bard; persons recognized for their connection to the cultural corpus derived from this poet’s works of antiquity
3. A collective referring to those descended from or connected with the celebrated ancient poet famed for epic compositions foundational to Greek literature; members of a lineage or scholarly circle linked to the epic narratives traditionally attributed to this figure; enthusiasts or experts associated with the historical and literary heritage of that epic poet’s creations

Etymology: "Homerids" is the plural of "Homerid," and the word's interest lies in the name it is built on. The Homerids were a guild or family of reciters in ancient Greece who claimed descent from Homer, the poet traditionally credited with the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." Their claim was a kind of professional inheritance: a family line that sang and preserved the epic poems, so that being a "son of Homer" meant being a performer of his work rather than a blood relative in any strict sense. The suffix "-id" marks descent in Greek naming, as in "Pelopid" or "Atreid," so "Homerid" reads plainly as "one of the line of Homer." The word was taken into English as a learned term for this group, and it remains almost entirely confined to classical scholarship, where it is used when discussing how the Homeric poems were transmitted before they were written down.