Homer (Ancient Greek: Homeros) is traditionally held to be the author of the ancient Greek epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as of the Homeric Hymns. Today the hymns are considered to be later works but many still regard Homer as the author or compiler of the epics. The ancient Greeks generally believed that Homer was a historical individual. The date of Homer's existence was controversial in antiquity and is no less so today. Herodotus said that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, which would place him at around 850 BC; but other ancient sources gave dates much closer to the supposed time of the Trojan War. The date of the Trojan War was given as 1194-1184 BC by Eratosthenes, who strove to establish a scientific chronology of events and this date is gaining support because of recent archaeological research. THIS RESEARCH IS FOR SCHOLARS AND UNIVERSITIES.
Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives.
He was one of a long line of bards, or poets, who worked in the oral tradition. Homer and other bards of the time could recite, or chant, long epic poems.
