Homer is the name traditionally given to the author of the Iliad and Odyssey. Of the actual composition of the poems we know very little. Many scholars believe the two poems were the work of different authors, and some believe in the multiple authorship of each work. The poems probably took their final form at the end of the eighth century or later, with the Odyssey following the Iliad by about a generation. Although the poems draw on stories that were orally preserved and passed down over several centuries, the ideas of justice and social order evident in the following passages were probably current in the eighth century.

The role of common citizens in the assembly (Iliad 2.188–278)

As the Achaeans stream from their assembly to the ships, thinking to abandon the siege of Troy, Odysseus calls them back to their seats.