A Worldwide Exploration Of The History, Purpose, And Inescapable Influence Of The Iliad And The Odyssey That Will Inspire Readers To Think Anew About Homer’s Work   No One Knows Whether Homer Was A Real Person, But There Is No Doubt That The Epic Poems Assembled Under His Name Are Foundations Of Western Literature. The Iliad And The Odyssey—with Their Tales Of The Trojan War, Achilles, Odysseus And Penelope, The Cyclops, The Beautiful Helen Of Troy, And The Petulant Gods—have Inspired Us For Over Two And A Half Millennia And Influenced Writers From Plato To Virgil, Pope To Joyce, And Dante To Margaret Atwood.    In This Graceful And Sweeping Book, Alberto Manguel Traces The Lineage Of Homer’s Poems. He Examines Their Original Purpose, Either As Allegory Or Record Of History; Surveys The Challenges The Pagan Poems Presented To The Early Christian World; And Looks At Their Reception After The Reformation Through The Present Day. In This Revised And Expanded Edition, Manguel Ignites New Ways Of Thinking About These Classic Works. Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- A Note On Translations And Editions -- Introduction -- Summaries Of The Books -- Chapter 1. A Life Of Homer? -- Chapter 2. Among The Philosophers -- Chapter 3. Virgil -- Chapter 4. Christian Homer -- Chapter 5. Other Homers -- Chapter 6. Homer In Islam -- Chapter 7. Dante -- Chapter 8. Homer In Hell -- Chapter 9. Greek Versus Latin -- Chapter 10. Ancients Versus Moderns -- Chapter 11. Homer As Poetry -- Chapter 12. Realms Of Gold -- Chapter 13. Homer As Idea -- Chapter 14. The Eternal Feminine -- Chapter 15. Homer As Symbol -- Chapter 16. Homer As History -- Chapter 17. Madame Homer -- Chapter 18. Ulysses' Travels -- Chapter 19. Homer Through The Looking-glass -- Chapter 20. The Shield Of Achilles -- Chapter 21. The Never-ending War -- Chapter 22. Everyman -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Credits -- Index.