The two epics comprise a total of 28,000 hexameter in 24 books each and are written in an artificial language in which Ionic and Aeolian linguistic heritage permeate.
The presumably blind Homer's lifetime is assumed to be the 8th century B. C.; of the places that claim to be his homeland, Smyrna's demands in Ionian Asia Minor and the island of Chios in the Aegean seem to be the most justified.
Homer was considered to be the poet of antiquity, he was the great teacher and model of all antiquity. Countless writers and artists before and after the turn of the century were inspired by his works, not least the great poet Goethe.
There are probably few people who have never heard anything about the heroic deeds of the almost invincible hero Achilles at the gates of Troy and the subsequent odyssey of Ulysses.
Even today we still use synonyms such as Achilles' heel, Odyssey, Trojan horse, to name but a few, to describe weakness, an adventurous journey and a nasty surprise.
Exhibit of the National Museum in Naples.