Two of the greatest narrative poems of ancient Greece are The Iliad and The Odyssey. Both are attributed to Homer, though it's possible that they weren't, in fact, written by a single individual.
The reason for this uncertainty lies in our lack of knowledge of Homer's date of birth, birthplace or life. Guesses can be made from the internal evidence in the poems. But this is unsatisfactory considering that material may have been added or removed since the time of their composition.
Homer's poetry was studied and recognised in classical Greece as the work of a genius; it is still seen as seminal to European literature. The poems combine legends of a very distant past with a sense of immediacy and real characterisation. They are exciting, funny, dramatic and full of wonderful language and images.
At the time of their composition they were certainly made to be sung, rather than written down and read. It's probable that Homer himself was a singer, earning his livelihood by performing his own works, and those of others, at the courts of chieftains and kings. Tradition says that he was blind, which was often the case with bards in the ancient world. He is also traditionally pictured with a lyre, on which to accompany his own songs.
