For millions of people, the name Homer has now become synonymous with the doughnut-guzzling father of the Simpson family in the much-loved American cartoon series. However, the name has a long and illustrious history.
In its original Greek the name was Homeros (now pronounced oh-MARE-os) which is identical to the Greek word for "hostage," although this may or may not be a coincidence. Homeros, or its English variant Homer, is the name given to the author of the great classical poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," the written form (8th century BC) of various ancient myths about the Trojan War, which are in many ways the foundation of all European literature. Who Homer was, or even whether the two works had a single author, is much disputed, but the name, and its adjective "Homeric" are still synonymous with epic poetry and classical mythology.
In its original Greek the name was Homeros (now pronounced oh-MARE-os) which is identical to the Greek word for "hostage," although this may or may not be a coincidence. Homeros, or its English variant Homer, is the name given to the author of the great classical poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," the written form (8th century BC) of various ancient myths about the Trojan War, which are in many ways the foundation of all European literature. Who Homer was, or even whether the two works had a single author, is much disputed, but the name, and its adjective "Homeric" are still synonymous with epic poetry and classical mythology.
