In this paper we examine the key phenomena associated with the notion of kairos in Heidegger‘s pre-Being and Time writings and show that they all fall short of the methodological constraints and conceptual requirements placed on authentic presence in 1927. Though Heidegger‘s early studies of Aristotle and the New-Testament are broadly suggestive of the notion of temporality that is presented in his systematic treatise, none of those earlier texts carry the differentiations within which the Augenblick of Being and Time is situated. We thus claim that the ekstasis of authentic presence is neither reducible to an eschatological nor to a phronological kairos.

This paper is an attempt to expand upon Heidegger‘s project of thinking the History of Being through an overt engagement with that project‘s limitations. It is in this sense, then, both a carrying forward and a renovation. The limitation I have in mind is Heideg-ger‘s focus upon philosophy, and more specifically written philosophy, for the tracing of the History of Being. This limitation will be addressed by asking what Homer might be able to tell us about the historical unfolding that Heidegger traces in his investigations. As this is a very large project, this paper will sketch the avenues the investigation might take and then focus in detail upon the potential importance of Homeric simile for the path of thinking we embark upon with Heidegger.