Homer is the name we traditionally give to the author of the two greatest epics of the Greek world, the Iliad and the Odyssey. (Note that the definite article is not a part of either title.) Because of the differences in the cultures described in the two works and because of the nature of oral poetry, many scholars today believe that the two poems are the product of different poets. It is certain that each is a single representation of an oral epic tradition that produced many such poems. It is equally certain that each is a work of genius, whether of single or multiple authorship. The two poems have probably been in existence since about 800 B.C., although the events they describe date to a far earlier time. According to tradition, the sixth-century Athenian tyrant Pisistratus first ordered the poems to be written down. We know with more certainty that the librarians of the Museum (temple of the Muses) in Alexandria were responsible for editing the texts of Homer and dividing each epic into twenty-four books (the number of the letters in the Greek alphabet).

Linked to this page you will find separate bibliographies for the following subjects: the poet himself (or herself, if Samuel Butler's theory is correct); the poet's inspiration, the muse; the Judgment of Paris, the event that causes the Trojan War; Helen, "the face that launched a thousand ships"; and the Trojan Horse, the strategem by Odysseus that finally ended the ten-year siege.

Illustrations. The two sides of drinking cup (skyphos) at the top right of this page show Heracles arriving late for a music lesson. His aged nurse, Geropso, follows behind carrying his lyre. On the left side, his mortal half-brother Iphikles is already hard at work with his teacher Linos. Is there anything in this scene that resonates with the contemporary world?

On the left of this page, a Roman copy of a Greek original shows an idealized bust of Homer, circa 150 B.C. Beneath Homer, on the red-figure bell-krater (circa 420 B.C.), Leda appears surprised to discover the egg from which Helen will be born. The presence of Helen's father is evoked by the statue of Zeus to the right of the altar on which the egg rests. Next is Steele Savage's illustration of the Judgment of Paris from Edith Hamilton's Mythology (1942). Last, an illustration of Greek soldiers emerging from the Trojan Horse, is from an ancient gem.

Below, the papyrus, called "Hawara Iliad," dates from the second century. Note: no punctuation, no spaces between words, no upper-case letters.