Kiln (poem) facts for kids

The "Kiln" (Ancient Greek: Κάμινος, Kaminos), or "Potters" (Κεραμεῖς, Kerameis), is a 23-line hexameter poem that was variously attributed to Homer or Hesiod during antiquity, but is not considered the work of either poet by modern scholars. The poem constitutes an appeal to Athena to grant success to certain unnamed potters if they pay for the poet's song, followed by a series of curses to be enacted should they not reimburse him. It has been included among the Epigrams of Homer, as epigram XIV.

Authorship

Although the "Kiln" is printed among the Hesiodic fragments, there is little reason to assume that it was widely attributed to Hesiod.

The other witnesses to the poem all belong to the Homeric biographical tradition, and it seems that the "Kiln" was composed during the 6th or 5th century BCE as part of a lost work on Homer that predates the surviving texts. According to the pseudo-Herodotean Life of Homer, the great bard was traveling through the eastern Mediterranean and happened to land on the island of Samos. While there he encountered a group of potters who, aware of his fame, offered Homer some of their wares and whatever else that had on hand if he would sing for them. In response, Homer sang the "Kiln".