Author Description

The first of the two great poems commonly ascribed to Homer is calledthe Iliad-a title which we may be sure was not given it by the author. Itprofesses to treat of a quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles that brokeout while the Greeks were besieging the city of Troy, and it does, indeed,deal largely with the consequences of this quarrel; whether, however, theostensible subject did not conceal another that was nearer the poet's heart-I mean the last days, death, and burial of Hector-is a point that I cannotdetermine. Nor yet can I determine how much of the Iliadas we now have itis by Homer, and how much by a later writer or writers. This is a very vexedquestion, but I myself believe the Iliadto be entirely by a single poet.The second poem commonly ascribed to the same author is called theOdyssey. It deals with the adventures of Ulysses during his ten years ofwandering after Troy had fallen. These two works have of late years beenbelieved to be by different authors. The Iliadis now generally held to be theolder work by some one or two hundred years.