Homer has traditionally been assumed to be the composer of both the Iliad and the Odyssey; but, in fact, there is no certain information about their authorship. The dates of their composition is also uncertain. The best current estimates, based on analysis of linguistic features of the poems ([Janko, 1982] 228-231) have concluded that the Iliad was composed between 750 B.C. and 725 B.C. and the Odyssey between 743 B.C. and 713 B.C.

There is reason to believe that both the Iliad and the Odyssey existed as part of an oral tradition that preceded the advent of writing. The Homeric poems were by far the most revered and influential works of literature in the ancient Greek (and Roman) world. They affected not only literature, both prose and poetry, but established a vision of the Heroic age that helped shape Greek society itself.

• The Iliad, translated by Samuel Butler (1900)
• The Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler (1900)

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