Home´rus

A celebrated Greek poet, the most ancient of all the profane writers. The age in which he lived is not known, though some suppose it to be about 168 years after the Trojan war. Uncertainty prevails, also, as to the place of his nativity, seven cities claiming to be thus honored. These are Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, and Athenæ. In his two famous poems, the Iliad and Ody ey, he has displayed the most consummate knowledge of human nature, and rendered himself immortal by the sublimity and elegance of his poetry. In the Iliad be gives a narrative of the siege of Troy, and the Ody ey deals with the wanderings of Uly es after the fall of the city.