When did Homer probably live?

Determining exactly when Homer lived is difficult due to the lack of historical records, but scholars generally conclude that the large-scale epics were composed during the 9th or 8th century BCE, with the 8th century being the most plausible period.1

Internal evidence from the poems, such as linguistic features and references to specific cultural practices like hoplite warfare, suggests a composition date after 750 BCE for the Iliad and likely toward the end of the 8th century for the Odyssey. While some ancient traditions attempted to place Homer closer to the time of the Trojan War, modern analysis indicates the poems are significantly later than the initial Ionian settlements in Asia Minor (c. 1000 BCE) but earlier than the poetry of the mid-7th century BCE.12

Because Homer functioned as a traditional oral poet, the exact nature of his life remains obscured by centuries of biographical fiction and the fluid nature of oral transmission.23