Homeridai (English spelling)

As for his birthplace, more than ten towns competed for the honor of being the poet's birthplace, but most legends name Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey), followed by Chios. Both are towns in the Ionian region adjacent to Aeolis, and it is known that there was a guild-like group called the Homēridai (meaning "descendants of Homer") on the island of Chios whose traditional occupation was reciting epic poems. Considering the fact that Homer's language was based on the Ionian dialect, mixed with the Aeolian dialect, he is likely to have been active mainly in this region, and his final resting place may have been the island of Ios, as all the legends unanimously name. The popular belief that Homer was a blind poet comes from a reference to the author himself in the "Hymne to Apollo" in the "Homeric Hymns," in which he is described as "a blind man living in majestic Chios." Since the Hellenistic period, busts of Homer have always depicted him as a blind old man.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Homēridai" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　次に生地については，10以上の町が詩聖生誕地の名誉を競った中で，多くの伝承はスミュルナ(現，トルコのイズミル)，ついでキオスを名指ししている。いずれもアイオリス地方に隣接するイオニア地方の町で，キオス島にはまた叙事詩吟唱を代々の職業とするホメリダイHomēridai(〈ホメロスの後裔〉の意)なるギルド的団体があったことが知られているが，ホメロスの言語がイオニア方言を基調とし，そこにアイオリス方言を交えたものという事実を考え合わせると，この地方を中心として活躍した人物と思われ，その終焉の地は，伝承が一致して挙げるイオス島であったのかもしれない。なお，ホメロスを盲目の詩人とする巷説は，《ホメロス風賛歌》中の〈アポロン賛歌〉にある〈峨々たるキオスに住む盲（めしい）の人〉という作者自身への言及に由来するもので，ヘレニズム時代以降のホメロスの胸像等はつねに彼を盲目の老人で表現している。…

※「Homēridai」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報