Homer
Spine number 01
The Iliad
During the siege of Troy, Achilles withdraws from battle after a bitter dispute with Agamemnon, leaving their fellow Greeks exposed to the consequences. The epic moves between the fighting, the rival leaders’ speeches and the lives threatened on either side, asking what honour demands and what war costs. Rooted in an ancient oral tradition of uncertain date, the poem first appeared in print in Greek in the Florence edition of 1488; the date here identifies that printing, not its composition or earliest circulation.
1488 (first Greek print) · poem · Fiction
Spine number 02
The Odyssey
Odysseus struggles to reach Ithaca after the Trojan War, while Penelope faces persistent suitors and their son Telemachus searches for news of his father. Encounters with strangers, divine interference and stories told within stories make the journey an exploration of resourcefulness, hospitality and belonging. The poem grew from an ancient oral tradition whose dating remains disputed; 1488 marks its first printing in Greek at Florence, not its composition or first audience.
1488 (first Greek print) · poem · Fiction
Start with the homecoming if you enjoy adventure and shifting perspectives, then turn to the more concentrated conflict at Troy. A translation with a brief introduction and a list of names can help you settle into either poem.
Where to begin
Start here
The Odyssey
The movement between an absent traveller and the people waiting at home offers several ways into this epic. Let its different voices and changes of scene draw you forward, and notice how welcoming a stranger can become a test of character.
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Read next — or start with conflict
The Iliad
Choose this first if you prefer arguments, divided loyalties and the pressure of a shared crisis to a journey through many settings. Read the opening quarrel closely: its competing claims to honour give you a way into the later battles, while the speeches invite you to listen beyond any single hero’s view.
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Published 1488 (first Greek print)
The Iliad
poem
During the siege of Troy, Achilles withdraws from battle after a bitter dispute with Agamemnon, leaving their fellow Greeks exposed to the consequences. The epic moves between the fighting, the rival leaders’ speeches and the lives threatened on either side, asking what honour demands and what war costs. Rooted in an ancient oral tradition of uncertain date, the poem first appeared in print in Greek in the Florence edition of 1488; the date here identifies that printing, not its composition or earliest circulation.
Not yet in our collection
Published 1488 (first Greek print)
The Odyssey
poem
Odysseus struggles to reach Ithaca after the Trojan War, while Penelope faces persistent suitors and their son Telemachus searches for news of his father. Encounters with strangers, divine interference and stories told within stories make the journey an exploration of resourcefulness, hospitality and belonging. The poem grew from an ancient oral tradition whose dating remains disputed; 1488 marks its first printing in Greek at Florence, not its composition or first audience.
Not yet in our collection
Homer is the name traditionally given to the ancient Greek poet of The Iliad and The Odyssey. No reliable biography survives, and neither his birthplace nor his life dates can be established. The familiar image of a blind singer belongs to the traditions surrounding him. Whether one poet shaped both epics, and how their written forms emerged from generations of oral storytelling, remain subjects of scholarly debate.
The poems bring gods and mortals into stories of anger, loyalty and the desire to return home. The Iliad follows the consequences of Achilles’ quarrel with Agamemnon during the siege of Troy; The Odyssey turns to Odysseus’ difficult homecoming and the household waiting for him in Ithaca. Speeches, recurring phrases and scenes of hospitality give these large narratives an intimate human scale. They became central to ancient Greek education and a lasting source for later writers.
The epics are commonly associated with the eighth century BCE, but their precise dating and transmission are uncertain. This bibliography lists the two principal epics under Homer’s traditional attribution. Its publication dates identify their first printing in Greek, at Florence in 1488, long after their circulation in performance and manuscript.