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 is central to the Western canon. Homer's works, which are about fifty percent speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds. Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek literary papyrus finds in Egypt. The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, The Odyssey, also attributed to Homer. Both stories were intended to be sung by an epic poet. Along with The Odyssey, The Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) was an English novelist, translator, and artist. He is best known for his novel The Way of All Flesh and his translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.