Homer: Blackwell Introductions to the Classical World

The book presents an overview of the "Homeric question," considering the authorship, composition, and transmission of the poems. It provides the historical background to the epics, literary readings of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and an analysis of the poet's plotting, narrative technique, and characterization. The author uses comparisons between the two poems to illustrate Homeric poetics.

A final section reviews the important secondary literature on Homer and offers a guide to further reading. Throughout, the author makes use of his own original research, especially on the relations between Greek alphabetic writing and the origins of Greek literature.