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Homer.  © Homer is the name given to the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two major epic poems to have survived from Ancient Greece. These two poems are central to Western literature and culture.

Nothing is known of Homer as a person. In fact, there is not even agreement on whether one person created both the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'. Both poems seem to have been composed at some time between 750 and 650 BC, but it is thought they were shaped out of older material handed down verbally by singer-poets. Nonetheless, Homer is conventionally depicted as a blind, bearded man.

The 'Iliad' tells the story of the final year of the Trojan War, focusing on the activities of the Greek hero Achilles. The 'Odyssey' describes the adventures of another Greek hero, Odysseus, as he returns home after the fall of Troy.