Homer was A Greek poet, to whom are attributed the great epics, the 'Iliad', the story of the siege of Troy, and the 'Odyssey', the tale of Ulysses's wanderings. They are composed in a literary type of Greek, Ionic in basis with Aeolic admixtures. Ranked among the great works of Western literature, these two poems together constitute the prototype for all subsequent Western epic poetry. The place of his birth is doubtful, probably a Greek colony on the coast of Asia Minor, and his date, once put as far back as 1200 BC, from the style of the poems attributed to him is now thought to be much later.

The "Homeric question" was the great dispute of scholarship in the 19th century. Scholars tried to analyze the two works by various tests, usually to show that they were strung together from older narrative poems. Recent evidence strongly suggests that the 'Iliad' is the work of a single poet. Modern scholars are generally agreed that there was a poet named Homer who lived before 700 B.

C., probably in Asia Minor, and that the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' are each the product of one poet's work, developed out of older legendary matter.

Legends about Homer were numerous in ancient times. He was said to be blind. His birthplace has always been disputed, but Chios or Smyrna seem most likely. The study of Homer was required of all Greek students in antiquity, and his heroes were worshipped in many parts of Greece. The 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' are composed in dactylic hexameter and are of nearly the same length. The so-called 'Homeric Hymns' were falsely attributed to Homer. These hymns are certainly of a later age.in the 'iliad' The poems use the Trojan War, when heroes from across ancient Greece rallied together to fight against their counterparts in Troy, as a backdrop. The ever-meddling gods cause the dispute and remain active in its resolution. (Paris is promised Helen, the wife of Menelaus, by Aphrodite. He kidnaps her and the war begins). Although Achilles, the heroic ideal and greatest warrior of the Greeks, is absent for much of the 'Iliad', it is his pride and defection which remains the central drama. He fights with Agemmonon in the first chapter and refuses to enter the battle because of his hubris and anger. Only the death of his friend Patroclus forces him back into the battle, allowing the Greeks to win and peace to be restored.you can read the 'iliad' online: click here.

When the The 'Odyssey' begins, Troy has been burnt, Paris is dead, and the Greeks return home, victorious but few in number. The poem centers on Odysseus, the strategist who broke the deadlock of the conflict by creating the Trojan Horse, and his long journey home to save his wife and son from avaricious suitors. His offense to the god Posieon delays his journey as does his overweening hubris. After ten years of remarkable adventures, he arrives home to his wife Penelope and son, punishes her suitors, and restores his kingdom.you can read the 'odyssey' online: click here.