“No literary, cultural or political figure loomed, larger in the ancient imagination than Homer. To begin with, the subjects of his poetry - the Trojan War and its heroes - were essential mythological and historical reference points for Greeks and Romans alike, central to questions of identity and origins throughout the Mediterranean world. But Homer's fame rested on far more than his choice of topic; he was not only celebrated as the best poet, whose skillful narrative technique, vividly depicted scenes, and sonorous language were widely admired and imitated, but also revered as an ancient sage, who "taught" his audience essential truths about morality, theology, cosmology, and even technical subjects like medicine, geography, and rhetoric. For these reasons, Homeric poetry came to form the core of the Greek educational system - first for the Classical Athenian elite, and then, after the conquests of Alexander the Great had spread Hellenic culture throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, for every schoolchild in the Greek-speaking world. Homer's verses, characters, and stories were thus familiar to a broad swathe of society; they were cited not just by poets seeking to pay homage to, or assert their independence from, their most illustrious predecessor, but also by orators, novelists, historians, medical writers, philosophers, and essayists in pursuit of an elevated tone, a recognizable example or comparandum, the support of a respected authority, or even a convenient target for satire or parody. Homer is monumental, canonical, and ubiquitous; referred to simply as "the poet," revered as "divine" (e.g. Ar. Ran. 1034), acknowledged as "the most famous and most experienced" of men (Str. 8.3-3), he is "first, middle, and last, for every child, adult, and old man" (Dio Chrys. Or. 18.8).” Lawrence Kim, Homer in Antiquity from The Cambridge Guide to Homer.