Homer was a Greek poet of about the 9th century BC. He is thought to be the author of the two great epics the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'.
The 'liad' recounts the battles between Trojan and Greek heroes during the siege of the city of Troy; the principal participant is the warrior Achilles.
The Odyssey tells of the subsequent adventures encountered by the Greek hero Odysseus and his followers on their journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy.
Dramatic stories from both poems have provided a rich vein of subject matter for painters especially during the 18th and 19th centuries.