Who is attributed credit for recording the epic poem The Odyssey?

Homer is traditionally credited with composing The Odyssey, the ancient Greek epic that follows the hero Odysseus’s long journey home after the Trojan War. Unlike Aristotle and Socrates—who were philosophers—and Odysseus—who is the poem’s protagonist—Homer is the poet to whom both The Odyssey and its companion epic, The Iliad, are attributed. Composed around the 8th century BCE, The Odyssey emerged from an oral tradition and was later written down. Its rolling rhythm (dactylic hexameter) made it easier for bards to memorize and perform. The poem has shaped Western literature’s ideas of heroism, cunning, and homecoming. Memory tip: “Homer helps Odysseus get home”—Homer = “home,” Odyssey = “Odysseus’s odyssey.”