The History of Literature podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and LitHub Radio.

Hello, we begin today with a quote from Plutarch, who was writing about Alexander the Great

in the moments after Alexander had won a decisive battle in 333 BC.

Quote,

When a small casket was brought to him, which seemed to those who were taking over the possessions

and baggage of Darius to be more precious than anything else, he kept asking his friends

which of the things worthy of high esteem seemed most fit to be deposed in it.

And when many of them made many suggestions, he said that he would depose the Iliad there

and keep it safe.

End quote.

Like the Bible, the Iliad and its companion, the Odyssey, have been on the shelves of

conquerors and commoners in the Western world for an almost unfathomable length of time.

Unlike the Bible, we ascribe the Iliad and the Odyssey to a single author, Homer, although

the nature of Homer has been and is contested.

Was this person an individual or a committee, an artist of genius, or more of a scribe who

recorded an oral tradition?

Who exactly was Homer, and why have the Homeric epics proved to be so enduring?

We'll talk to an expert on Homer, Robin Lane Fox, plus have some Halloween bonus content

from the editor of the Penguin Book of Witches, today on The History of Literature.

Hmm, hello, hello, hello, welcome to this here, little podcast to Jack Wilson's special,

everyone, happy Halloween for all those who enjoy this holiday.

I'm certainly one of them, although it's kind of in the category of zoo.

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