Homer


Born: c. 800 BC (?)
Died: c. 750 BC (?)
Birthplace: Greece

Best known as: The author of the Iliad and the Odyssey
Homer is the man who, according to legend, wrote the two great epics of Greek history: the Iliad (the tale of Achilles and the Trojan War) and the Odyssey (about the travels of Odysseus). Both books are considered landmarks in human literature and Homer is therefore often cited as the starting point of Western literary and historical tradition.

The details of Homer's life are a mystery; some scholars believe that no such man ever existed, and that the works credited to him were actually told and gathered by many people over many centuries. Other stories give various birthplaces and ages for Homer and suggest he was a wandering poet or minstrel. Homer is usually said to have been blind, a point on which nearly all the legends agree

Little is known of Homer beyond the fact that his was the name attached in antiquity to the epics by the Greeks themselves. In fact, differences between the two poems in style and subject matter have often led both Greeks of the classical age and modern scholars to suggest that the compositions are actually the work of two men.

Some argue that Homer authored the first (the Iliad) but only inspired the second (the Odyssey). Others suggest that the Odyssey is a product of Homer's mature years, while the earlier poem reflects a youthful zeal for drama. In either case, Homer's influence has been profound and long lasting. From the internal evidence of the poems, it has generally been accepted that Homer composed them between the ninth and eighth centuries B.C.

Aside from their enduring popularity as literature, it is quite likely that the most important influence of the Iliad and the Odyssey on Western standards and ideas came about through their impact on classical Greek culture. The Greeks regarded the poems as more than just good literature; their children read and memorized verses from the texts as part of their schooling. The texts both symbolized Greek unity and served as a source of practical and ethical instruction.