The Iliad and The Odyssey were either written by Homer or by another guy with the same name. It doesn’t matter. The Homeric tradition comes from something very tangible....two epic poems. That’s what I was referring to. If you think Shakespeare doesn’t ‘live up to the hype’ or whatever then what writer would you suggest replace him as the basis of English Lit. And the way the Academic World is structured these days, the hip thing to do is not to repeat what’s been said before but to debunk and put up someone else that you discovered on your own. Shakespeare has withstood this sort of thing.
Actually they were either written by Homer or came to evolve over decades by the telling of dozens even hundreds of people. It does matter, because it’s the proof of how myths perpetuate.
I don’t think ANYTHING can live up to Shakespeare’s hype. It’s an unachievable myth at this point. He’s been lauded to godhead. The basis of English lit should be much wider. They shouldn’t erect pillars, they should put down floors. There were many contemporaries that produced worthy stuff (worthy enough for him to rip off in some cases) plus of course centuries of English literature before a lot of which is really good. English lit is taught in the exact same very bad way American history is taught, much how we jump from Columbus to Plymouth Rock to the Revolution studiously skipping 3 centuries and a few actually very important wars, English lit teacher jump from Homer to Shakespeare and maybe a few mention Chaucer in passing. They really should be finding something to talk about every 200 years or so, there were writers, and some of their writings survive. Shakespeare hasn’t withstood #@$% English teachers’ OBSESSION with Shakespeare survives everything.