Homer (750 bc - unknown)
Popularly known as Homer, Melesigenes authored two of the oldest extant epics of Greek mythology: the Iliad and Odyssey. Said to have been blind, he narrated both his books as poetry, and they were first written down in the format of a script in the 8th century bce. Melesigenes's travels across the country of Greece as a poet brought him to the Hermaean plain in the county of Cumae where he adopted the name, Homer - a name that was given by the people of the county to blind men. His promises of bringing the county reclaim if they supported him were met with resistance, and this drove the poet to Phocoea, and then to Erythrae. Thereafter, he arrived in the town of Chios, where he married and started a family.
Originally written in Homeric Greek, both the Iliad and Odyssey have been translated into multiple languages across the world. His descriptions of love, loss, friendship, anger, angst, war, brotherhood, and kinghood transcend time and age, and continue to pull a reader towards his works.
This edition of the Illiad was translated by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), a poet whose satirical poetry won him widespread acclaim. His translations of the Iliad and Odyssey are considered some of his best works till date.