Homer of Colophon was a Greek epic poet of the 7th century BCE, active around 650–600 BCE. He came from Colophon in Asia Minor and is often called "Homer the Younger" to distinguish him from the Homer of the Iliad and Odyssey. Ancient sources record that he was the son of a poetess named Myro and a pupil of the epic poet Creophylus. Beyond these details, his life is unknown.
He is associated with one work, the Margites, a comic epic about a foolish anti-hero who did everything badly. The poem is lost and survives only in fragments and descriptions. Aristotle cited it as evidence that the Homeric tradition stood behind comic poetry as well as tragedy. Other poems — the Battle of the Frogs and Mice, hymns, and foundation stories — were attributed to him in later antiquity; these attributions are generally rejected.
Available Works
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