Homer (8th century B.C.) was a Greek poet and the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He was also supposedly blind. His name, in Greek, means "hostage", so there is some thought he may have been taken by the Greeks as a hostage during war. Little is known about his life beyond such speculations, but his poems have been recognized as two of the greatest epics in Western culture for thousands of years. Homer is nowadays a popular boys' name in the United States e.g. Homer Simpson.