Definition for Homer
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Homer (850 B.C.E. to ?): Greek poet, to whom are attributed the great epics, the Iliad, the story of the siege of Troy, and the Odyssey, the tale of Odysseus' wanderings. The place of his birth is doubtful, probably a Greek colony on the coast of Asia Minor, and his date, once put as far back as 1200 B. C. E., from the style of the poems attributed to him is now thought to be much later.
Arguments have long raged over whether his works are in fact by the same hand and there seems little doubt that the works were originally based on current ballads which were much modified and extended. Of the true Homer, nothing is positively known. The so-called Homeric hymns are certainly of a later age. A tradition among the ancients was that Homer had originally produced ten separate poems on the battle for Troy, only two of which, the Iliad and the Odyssey, survived. The themes of his works which most excite philosophical interest are probably arete (excellence or virtue) and nous (mind, or simply awareness).