8th century BCE · epic poet
Homer
Ὅμηρος
ConjecturedNot attested in Alexandria.
The poet to whom the Greeks gave the Iliad and the Odyssey. Whether one poet composed them, and when, is still argued; the century given is a convention. Homer was the Library's first object of study: every head from Zenodotus to Aristarchus edited him, and Ptolemy IV built him a temple.
Our device: No portrait of any of these people survives. The emblems are our devices.
On the shelves
- Homer, Iliad · c. 750–650 BCE (fixed in writing by the 6th century BCE) · Survives whole
- Homer, Odyssey · c. 725–625 BCE · Survives whole
In the show
The show has not yet spoken of Homer.
Sources (2)
- M. L. West, Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad (Munich: K. G. Saur, 2001)
- Aelian, Varia Historia 13.22