Author

Homer

Posthumous or imagined likeness of Homer.
Posthumous or imagined likeness of Homer. Source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Frequently Cited

The Iliad

c. 8th century BCE · Ancient · Epic

The Iliad tells of a few weeks in the tenth year of the Greek siege of Troy, and its subject, announced in the first line, is the wrath of Achilles. A plague sent by Apollo ravages the Greek camp because Agamemnon, commander of the Achaeans, has refused to return the captive daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses.

The Odyssey

c. 8th century BCE · Ancient · Epic

The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus's long return from Troy to Ithaca and of the household that must survive his absence. The poem opens not with Odysseus but with disorder: his son Telemachus is growing up under the pressure of suitors who consume the estate and demand that Penelope choose a new husband.