[shamusotoole]

I realize I'm preaching to the choir, but there is a teachable moment here, albeit on a different topic, namely Logic.

The argument goes:

A. Homer was a creator of oral literature.

B. Some creators of oral tradition are women. ("Women have a long tradition worldwide as makers of oral literature.")

C. Therefore: Homer was a woman.

The basic flaw in this syllogism is "undistributed middle." That is to say, one goes from an absolute statement to a relative one and then makes an absolute conclusion, which can't be warranted.

We are dummies to give this even the time of day, except we all get to sound smart.

[NathanR]

Shouldn't "C" actually be: Homer may have been a woman.

[Andrew Dalby]

Here's another teachable moment, shamusotoole. Don't invent an argument in order to ridicule it. There's more to this than your neat summary. Read /Rediscovering Homer/. Then come back and knock the argument down, if you still want to!