Homer
Legendary blind poet credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey
The Meaning of Homer
Homer is the name assigned to the author — or authors — of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two foundational epics of Western literature, composed in the eighth or seventh century BCE. The Iliad narrates a few weeks of the Trojan War's tenth year, centred on Achilles' wrath, while the Odyssey follows Odysseus's decade-long journey home. Seven cities claimed Homer's birthplace in antiquity, and the "Homeric Question" — whether one person composed both poems — has occupied scholars since antiquity. What is certain is that these epics drew on centuries of oral tradition, shaped the Greek understanding of their gods, heroes, and moral universe, and remain unmatched in their influence on world literature.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Seven ancient cities each claimed to be Homer's birthplace, and the debate has never been settled
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Nonnus
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Dionysus
Late antique poet who composed the Dionysiaca, the longest surviving epic poem from Greco-Roman antiquity
Virgil
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Rome, fate
Roman poet who composed the Aeneid linking Rome's founding to the Trojan War through Aeneas's journey
Apollonius of Rhodes
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Argonauts
Hellenistic poet who composed the Argonautica, the epic of Jason and the Golden Fleece
Hesiod
💭 conceptDidactic poetry, cosmogony
Boeotian poet who composed the Theogony and Works and Days in the archaic period
Ovid
💭 conceptPoetry, transformation, love
Roman poet whose Metamorphoses became the most influential retelling of Greek myth in Western culture
Dionysiaca
💭 conceptLiterature
Nonnus's sprawling epic poem narrating the life and conquests of the god Dionysus in forty-eight books
Iliad
💭 conceptLiterature
Homer's epic poem recounting the wrath of Achilles during the final year of the Trojan War
Homeric Hymns
💭 conceptLiterature
A collection of thirty-three ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual Olympian and chthonic deities
Argonautica
💭 conceptLiterature
Apollonius of Rhodes' epic poem narrating Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece
Theogony
💭 conceptLiterature
Hesiod's epic poem describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods
Aeneid
💭 conceptLiterature
Virgil's epic poem following the Trojan hero Aeneas from the fall of Troy to the founding of Rome
Pindar
💭 conceptLyric poetry, victory odes
Greatest Greek lyric poet renowned for his epinician odes celebrating athletic victors