Homer

Homer is best known as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He was believed by the ancient Greeks to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets. Author of the first known literature of Europe, he had a lasting effect on the Western canon.
Whether and when he lived is unknown. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, which would place him at around 850 BCE. Pseudo-Herodotus estimates that he was born 622 years before Xerxes I placed a pontoon bridge over the Hellespont in 480 BCE, which would place him at 1102 BCE, 168 years after the fall of Troy in 1270 BCE. These two end points are 252 years apart, representative of the differences in dates given by the other sources.
== Tossup Questions ==
# Gregor Nitzsch opposed F.A. Wolf's postulation that this author weaved together source material. This writer's works were compared to "The Wedding of Smailagic Meho," a Serbo-Croatian ballad, by Alfred Lord. The ominous narrative of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac is contrasted with this writer's calmer description of the recognition of a scar in the first chapter of Auerbach's Mimesis. A king leaving the passenger on his back to drown sparks the title acrimonious conflict between the title (*) animals in one work attributed to this author. Millman Parry connected this writer's use of formulaic phrases like "rosy-fingered dawn" to his theory that this man might have dictated his most famous works. Another work by this possible author of the Battle of the Frogs and the Mice opens with the word "rage" and includes a "Catalogue of Ships." The first major English translation of this blind poet was by George Chapman. For 10 points, name this author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
# George Chapman translated this author's two main works into English. This author used the epithets "wine-dark" to describe the sea and "grey-eyed" to describe Athena. One of this author's title characters is attacked by the Laestrygonians, and calls himself "No-Man" to escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus. An epic poem by this author begins by depicting the wrath of Achilles, and ends with a victorious army hiding inside the Trojan Horse. For 10 points, name this ancient Greek poet of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
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