Homer

Greek, c. 8th century BCE

Homer is the legendary ancient Greek poet traditionally credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that form the foundation of Western literature. The Iliad tells of the Trojan War, while the Odyssey follows the hero Odysseus on his long journey home. Whether Homer was a single historical person or a tradition of oral poets remains debated, but the works attributed to him have shaped storytelling for nearly three thousand years.