Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets. These epics representthe beginning of the Western canon, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.

Homer is known only as theauthor of the The Iliad and The Odyssey, the two epic poems of theTrojan War and its aftermath that mark the birth of Western culture. Nothing isknown of his life.

Jasper Griffin was Public Orator and Professor of Classical Literature in the University of Oxford, UK, Fellow of Balliol College and elected a Fellow of the British Academy. His publications include Homer (2001), Virgil (2nd edn, 2001); Latin poets and Roman life (1994) also available from Bloomsbury, and editor of Homer: Iliad, Book IX (1995).

Martin Hammond was Head of Classics and Master in College at Eton College. He was also Headmaster of City of London School, and Tonbridge School, Kent. His acclaimed translation of the Iliad was published by Penguin Classics.

Martin Hammond was Head of Classics at Eton College for six year from 1974, and subsequently Master in College. In 1984 he was appointed Headmaster of the City of London School and since 1990 he has been Headmaster of Tonbridge School. He is the translator of the Penguin Classics edition of Homer's The Iliad.