Homer

Homer is the name traditionally given to the ancient Greek poet credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two foundational epic poems of ancient Greek literature, though no reliable biographical details about his life survive and scholars continue to debate whether one person composed both works, or indeed whether "Homer" represents a single historical author rather than a tradition of oral poets. The Iliad narrates an episode from the final year of the legendary Trojan War, centered on the wrath of the warrior Achilles, while the Odyssey follows the long journey home of the hero Odysseus after the war's end; both poems were likely composed, drawing on a long tradition of oral epic poetry, sometime in the eighth century BCE. The two works became the foundation of Greek education and literary culture for over a thousand years and have remained continuously influential on Western literature ever since.