The Greeks believed that THE ODYSSEY and THE ILIAD were composed by a single poet whom they named Homer. Nothing is known of his life. Ancient tradition places him in Ionia, located in the eastern Aegean. Most modern scholars now place the composition of THE ODYSSEY in the late 8th, early 7th century. Robert Fagles is Arthur W. Marks Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University. Bernard Knox is Director Emeritus of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC.