Homer Biography
(Ancient Greek Author Who is Considered One of the Greatest and Most Influential Authors of All Time)
Born: 928
Born In: Ionia, Greece
Homer, hailed as the poet of ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’, the two great epics which laid the foundation of Greek literature, has unfortunately come down to us just as a name. In fact, many modern scholars are not convinced that there was actually a man named Homer. According them, these two epics were the works of a group of poet-singers, collectively known as Homer. Another group however, recognizes that there was indeed a poet named Homer, but he had only refined the stories and compiled them into the two epics. Contrarily, if we go by ancient Greek traditions, there was indeed a man called Homer, who composed the two great epics along with a number of verses collectively known as ‘Homeric Hymns.’ More importantly, inhabitants of several cities in the Asia Minor region, known as the “Homeridae” claimed that they were the direct descendents of the bard. Modern scholars have woven his life story as much from such ancient traditions as from certain elements in his works, and the little that we know about him is from their research.