Homer

Homer stands at the beginning of Greek literary culture, although the historical identity of the poet remains uncertain. The Iliad and the Odyssey grew from oral epic traditions and became foundational texts for Greek education, heroic ethics, mythology and later literature.

For the site, Homer belongs in Classical because the epics are primary ancient texts rather than modern historical fiction. They support pages on the Trojan War tradition, Greek myth, heroic society, oral poetry and the later reception of archaic Greece.