The Influential Writings of Homer

The tales of the Iliad and the Odyssey, are written by the poet Homer. The Iliad is a tale of the Trojan war, and the Odyssey is a tale of the journeys of Odysseus. Homer is known for writing epics.

Homer was was a Greek poet who wrote the epic tales of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He lived 0around the twelfth century. His writings, that varied from tales of the Trojan war to poems about his sons, were very influential to Ancient Greek history.Some characters Homer wrote of were Achilles, Ajax, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Helen, Paris, Hector, Odysseus, and Penelope, and some of the Olympian gods he wrote of were Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Zeus, Hera, and Hephaestus. Although Homer is the name given to the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, many scholars still argue if there wasn't actually a Greek Poet named Homer.

One of the influential writings of Homer was the Iliad. The Iliad is a tale of the Trojan war and takes place nine years after the war is started. Many of the gods take place in the war and fight in battles. The war could have ended, but the gods kept it going. In the Iliad, there are twenty four books about the war over Paris abducting Helen, the queen of Sparta. The gods interfere many times in the war. An example of this is when Achilles is going to kill Agamemnon, but is stopped by Athena. Aphrodite interferes when Paris and Menelaus are dueling, and Paris is about to die, and Aphrodite takes him away to Helen. Even Zeus, the neutral god, sends a false dream to Agamemnon, telling him to prepare for battle and then there is conflict. Eventually in the Iliad, Zeus sides with the Trojans.

The Odyssey is a twenty-four book epic of the journey home of Odysseus. Odysseus is a Greek hero from the Trojan war who is forced to wander the earth for ten years before he can return home. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca and his wife is Penelope. During his journey, he is captured by a cyclops named Polyphemus. Odysseus escapes by blinding the cyclops who turns out to be the son of Poseidon. Odysseus is forced to live with Calypso, a sea nymph, but he escapes with the help of Athena. When Odysseus is finally ready to return home, there are men waiting to kill him however, with the help of Athena, he overcomes them.

The Iliad and the Odyssey are great epics and are found in almost every high school in America. Whether or not there was actually a Greek poet named Homer, we owe a lot to the writings of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Homer. The Iliad. Barnes and Noble Books. New York. 2005.

Homer. The Odyssey. The Harvard Classics. New York. 1914.