The two best known ancient biographies of Homer are the Life of Homer by the Pseudo-Herodotus and the Contest of Homer and Hesiod. Another tradition from the days of the Roman emperor Hadrian says Epicaste (daughter of Nestor) and Telemachus (son of Odysseus) were the parents of Homer. They include that Homer was blind (taking as self-referential a passage describing the blind bard Demodocus), that he resided at Chios, that he was the son of the river Meles and the nymph Critheïs, that he was a wandering bard, that he composed a varying list of other works (the 'Homerica'), that he died either in Ios or after failing to solve a riddle set by fishermen, and various explanations for the name 'Homer' (Ὅμηρος : Hómēros). Some ancient claims about Homer were established early and repeated often. Works attributed to Homer įurther information: Ancient accounts of Homer Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author.

The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film. In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as 'Poet sovereign', king of all poets in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the 'greatest of poets'. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who 'has taught Greece' (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν, tēn Helláda pepaídeuken). Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor.

Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic.

The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer ( / ˈ h oʊ m ər/ Ancient Greek: Ὅμηρος, Hómēros) (born c.

Homer and the illiad