Many of the specific details of Homer's life are not known. No one is even sure if the blind poet was one person or many people. Homer's birth has been speculated to have occurred on an island in the Aegean Sea, or in Turkey, or on the mainland of Greece (Cummings 1). The one thing that is certain, is that Homer was the first great poet of his time, (which was roughly between 700 and 800 B.C.). Homer's two most famous writings, The Odyssey and The Iliad, were first spoken by mouth rather than written down. After Homer died, people continued to speak the stories until scribes decided to write them down. Both stories were already a number of years old when Homer composed them, and in that time period, many people respected and lived by the Gods. This reflects into the stories. In The Odyssey, Odysseus comes in contact with the Gods many times, whether it's Poesidon throwing Odysseus off, or Athena coming to his rescue. There are many arguments surrounding the writing of these two poems. Some scholars believe that Homer did not write both stories, and others believe that he did. Since the details of Homer's life are so vague, these arguments may never be settled.

The Trojan War

The Trojan War was started when the wife of Menelaus, Helen, was abducted and taken to Troy. Below is the story of why Helen was taken.

The Golden Apple

King Peleus and a nymph named Thetis were arranging the guest list for their wedding. The goddess of Discord, Eris, was known to start fights, so they did not include her. Receiving no invitation upset Eris, so she decided to stir up some trouble at the wedding. She threw a golden apple into the hall, and on the apple was the phrase "For the Fairest". Naturally, every single goddess believed she was the fairest, so a battle for the apple broke out. Finally, three goddesses were selected as the three fairest of them all: Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. Zeus was supposed to make the decision, but decided to pass it on to the Trojan prince named Paris. The three goddesses bribed Paris, but his ultimate decision was that Aphrodite was the fairest of them all. She had promised Paris the most ravishing woman on Earth. That woman was Helen.

Helen was the daughter of Leda and Zeus, the wife of Menelaus, and the Queen of Sparta. Even though Helen was married to Menelaus, her destiny was to be Paris' lover. So, while Menelaus was away, Paris sailed to Sparta and took Helen to Troy. This abduction infuriated Greece, which thus started the Trojan War.