 
Little is known about the author of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". No records were kept, and even our knowledge of the major events of Greek history before 600 B.C. is sketchy at best. Most of the information about Homer is drawn from internal evidence in the two epics, a bit of archaeological evidence, and unreliable tradition--much of it based on the highly speculative 5th-century B.C. biography by Theocritus. No one is even sure whether the works attributed to Homer were written solely by him more...
Little is known about the author of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". No records were kept, and even our knowledge of the major events of Greek history before 600 B.C. is sketchy at best. Most of the information about Homer is drawn from internal evidence in the two epics, a bit of archaeological evidence, and unreliable tradition--much of it based on the highly speculative 5th-century B.C. biography by Theocritus. No one is even sure whether the works attributed to Homer were written solely by him, or, as part of the "oral-formulaic" tradition, were the result of the efforts of many bards. It is generally believed that Homer was blind and poor. Beyond that, critics and historians agree that one poet brought together into a brilliant synthesis the songs and legends that had been current in Greece since the end of the Trojan War in 1200 B.C.--information that had been passed on by oral tradition and so was in constant flux. Whatever the method of composition, and whoever the author, however, the magnificent epics attributed to Homer are masterpieces of literature and fertile inspirations for later art. less...
   |
9th century B.C. Greece, Balkan Peninsula, Eastern Europe,
|
|
|
|
|