In the times of Ancient Greece, there was a great amount of confusion in the world. The nation of Greece itself was divided, neighboring villages would constantly engage in small wars and capture prisoners, which were held for ransom or sold into slavery. This is probably why there is no factual information on the poet called Homer. There has been a great deal of controversy over Homer and the Homeric epics. In his epic poems, he used some universal themes. In addition, when reciting his epic poems he used a formula so he did not have to memorize the entire story. Although there are no facts, we can still learn much from what he left behind.
             The name Homer, itself, means Hostage. Still, Homer is the single most well know poet in the world. The Greek called him the "holy poet". His two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are said to be the best of western literature. It even ranks above Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil (Beye). Of course, his poems are not great for the actual plot, for these stories have been around for generations before him (Beers 330). For instance, the Iliad was based on the Trojan War, which was discovered to be circa 1400-120 BC by archaeologist Heinrich Schliem (Whitelaw). What makes them great is how Homer put them together as an oral story, since they were indeed meant to be memorized, and recited to a crowd, not to be read in a book. Of course, since there was no hard copy version, every time Homer recited them it was just a little bit different ("Homer" 116). Poets, at that time, also had a high position in the society. They could control what people saw as moral and immoral,!
             by incorporating morals into their poems. Homer's poems were especially revered as great view of mankind (Beye). Children would memorize large portions of the Homeric poems, and practice the ethics within them (Beers 330). The great poets, however, did not memorize the entire poem. Inst...