Illiad and Odyssey canonical to the Epic Cycle?

Question

Are the Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer considered as canon in relation to the entire epic cycle? Are all the works consistant or do they contradict each other alot?

Thanks to anyone who can provide me with some information on this subject.

Answer 1

From what I remember the two stories don't overlap so there is no room for inconsistancies.

The Illiad is about the causes of the war and who took part and finishes some time after Achilles is killed.

The Odyssey starts with Odysseus' plan to build the wooden horse some years after the end of the Illiad. Troy is sacked then the rest of the book is about Odysseus getting home and we learn what has happened there. There is also a short bit where we learn of the fate of some of the other characters from the Illiad such as Penelope being back with her husband.

So nothing to contradict.

Answer 2

I find your question a bit confusing but I've read both the Iliad and the Odyssey and found that they contradicted each other a lot. All of the character development made in the Iliad conflicted with all the character development in the Odyssey.

The conflicting views of society in each epic lead many to believe Homer didn't write both and that the Odyssey might have been written decades after the Iliad.

In the Iliad glorification is man's highest honor. In the Odyssey, it is morality.

Would I be able to make a consistant timeline without the sub-plots? I don't think so. The sub-plots are the only inconsistant details. Both stories have a beginning, long and repetative middle, and conclusion. Both beginnings begin in the middle of the story and flash back as you go along. The central themes are recurrant throughout the stories and the conclusions are abrupt and hardly satisfying. The ending in the Iliad is more abrupt than than of the Odyssey for the Odyssey ends with the dead souls in the Underworld discussing the conclusion.

The Aeneid was written after the Iliad but it tells the story of Aeneus (spelling) who was a hero in the Trojan war. It would probably be inconsistant given the time difference.

I wish I could comment more on whether the same style is used in non-homeric books but I have yet to get my hands on a copy of one. I plan to though.