It is believed that Homer lived in Greece between 850 and 800 BC Great writer, is considered the author of the Iliad and Odyssey, two epic masterpieces of Greek. Historians and art critics are unable to agree on whether there was truly a historical figure named Homer, head of the two epics, or whether they were drafted by a group of authors, called Homer, who attributed their joint work to one man. There is also disagreement about the alleged birthplace of Homer. It is discussed whether it was in Smyrna, Rhodes, Chios, Colophon, Argos, Ithaca, Pylos and Athens. Despite these concerns, states that lost his father and mother when I was a child and lived in extreme poverty. Have learned the languages and arts of a master named Phemius. It is thought that crossed the Mediterranean in the company of merchants, an experience that would have served for the preparation of their works. Some authors state that went blind after contracting an illness on the island of Ithaca. Also believed to have worked under the protection of a patron in Chios, and died on the island of Ios.
The Iliad narrates several episodes of the war waged by the Greeks against the Trojans, triggered after a Trojan prince named Paris kidnapped the Greek princess Helen. The Odyssey recounts the adventures of Ulysses during the long journey home from Troy did to the island of Ithaca, and there sat his wife Penelope.
In the Iliad and the Odyssey the gods are mixed, not necessarily virtuous, with demi-gods and men, who generally are distinguished by their heroic attitudes. Homer gave his characters that defined epithets, as in the case of Achilles, who is remembered as "the light foot."