more photos (5)

Homer’s Followers (7,144)

Add New
Videos

Add a comment

1 comment

Homer

Genre

Poetry, Historical Fiction, History

edit data

Homer (Greek: Όμηρος born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe Homer (Greek: Όμηρος born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.
The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.

French: Homère, Italian: Omero, Portuguese, Spanish: Homero. ...more

Combine Editions
Homer’s books

Average rating: 3.88 · 1,843,651 ratings · 48,458 reviews · 4,764 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Odyssey 3.83 avg rating — 1,198,542 ratings — published -800 — 5585 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Iliad by Homer, Emily Wilson (Translator) 3.93 avg rating — 511,975 ratings — published -800 — 5246 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Iliad / The Odyssey by Homer, Robert Fagles (Translator), Bernard Knox (Introduction) 4.07 avg rating — 84,144 ratings — published -800 — 447 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Homeric Hymns 4.05 avg rating — 6,626 ratings — published -699 — 153 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Iliad by Homer, William B. Jones Jr. (Introduction) 3.85 avg rating — 4,369 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Odyssey I–XII 4.11 avg rating — 1,751 ratings — published -700 — 235 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Iliad, Books 1–12 (Loeb Classical Library, #170) by Homer, Augustus Taber Murray (Translator), William F. Wyatt Jr. (Translator) 4.49 avg rating — 1,274 ratings — published -800 — 165 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Circe and the Cyclops 3.74 avg rating — 1,407 ratings — published -850 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Illiad 3.94 avg rating — 1,249 ratings — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Iliad/The Odyssey/The Aeneid by Homer, Virgil, Bernard Knox (Editor) 4.37 avg rating — 1,121 ratings — published 600 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Homer…

Series by Homer

The Iliad by Homer (2 books)
by

Homer,

Augustus Taber Murray (Translator),

David B. Monro (Editors, Introduction)

4.51 avg rating — 2,273 ratings

Ulisses (3 books)
by

Homer,

Sebastien Ferran (Adapted by)

4.21 avg rating — 34 ratings

Good news, book nerds! And movie nerds! And TV nerds! It’s time once again for our regular roundup of new and upcoming book-to-screen...

Polls

September 2015 Old School Classic Poll

1857, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, 329 pages

32 votes, 21.5%

1869, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, 394 pages

25 votes, 16.8%

1831, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, 614 pages

22 votes, 14.8%

-850, The Odyssey by Homer, 560 pages

19 votes, 12.8%

1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 432 pages

15 votes, 10.1%

1853, Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell, 432 pages

9 votes, 6.0%

1887, The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy, 464 pages

7 votes, 4.7%

1833, Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac, 200 pages

7 votes, 4.7%

1880, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, 352 pages

7 votes, 4.7%

1882, Atlantis: The Antideluvian World by Ignatius L. Donnelly, 528 pages

3 votes, 2.0%

1795, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 396 pages

3 votes, 2.0%

149 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
100+ Books in 2026: Natalie's 2009 List	2	311	Aug 07, 2009 08:54AM
Meggie & Mo's Boo...: Angie's update list	1	16	Sep 24, 2009 01:29PM
The Book Challenge: Kristen's 2009 challenge	34	200	Sep 25, 2009 08:21AM
Meggie & Mo's Boo...: * Book List	3	208	Sep 29, 2009 11:56PM
The Book Challenge: Meghan's Other 2009 Challenges	11	263	Oct 31, 2009 09:58AM
Book Buying Addic...: Titles A-Z Game	684	821	Apr 21, 2010 07:20PM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)	3022	3288	Aug 31, 2010 10:39PM
The World's Liter...: Modern	8	69	Oct 26, 2010 05:11PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Lauli's 50 books in 2010	87	317	Dec 30, 2010 05:18PM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Homer to Goodreads.

Homer’s Followers (7,144)

Add NewVideos

Homer

Combine EditionsHomer’s books

Series by Homer

Related News

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

Combine Editions
Homer’s books