Homer

The Iliad and The Odyssey were written by Homer, who is often regarded as the greatest epic poet in history. The history of literature has been greatly influenced by Homer's epics.

It is challenging to date his writings because they were passed down orally from generation to generation, but "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" are thought to date to the 8th century BC. The Odyssey centers on King Odysseus' journey to Ithaca, while The Iliad narrates the narrative of the first Trojan War. His epics not only expanded the literary canon, but they also helped to establish Greek society and education from the Classical Period through the Roman Empire.

It is impossible to say if Homer lived or whether the Trojan War ever occurred. However, because the Greeks were finally unified to openly fight the Trojan War, the poems revealed a surge of newly discovered cultural identity among the Greeks.

Despite differences among Greece's many city-states, the reciting of the poetry gave the populace a strong sense of unity and belonging. His writings were much more than just epics; Greeks knew the majority of them from memory, and beyond the confines of the page, the words of the stories served as a type of moral and practical instruction manual for them.