When were the Iliad and the Odyssey first written down?

The exact date when the Iliad and the Odyssey were first written down remains a subject of scholarly debate, as the poems originated in an oral tradition.12

Because an alphabetic writing system reached Greece in the 9th or early 8th century BCE, it is possible that Homer, if he composed after 750 BCE, could have used writing or dictated the poems to a literate assistant. Alternatively, the epics may have been preserved orally until the 7th century BCE.1

Key milestones in the stabilization of the text include:

• 7th Century BCE: Partial texts were likely used by rhapsodes and the Homeridae.1
• 6th Century BCE: A complete version may have been established as a standard for competitions at the Panathenaea in Athens.1
• Composition: Scholars generally date the composition of the Odyssey to approximately 725–675 BCE.2

Even after these early efforts, the text remained fluid for centuries, undergoing periodic stabilization and critical review by scholars such as Aristarchus of Samothrace in the 2nd century BCE.1