Whether an individual or a group of bards, the legendary Greek poet known as Homer produced two of the foundational texts of Western literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey. These works, praised by critic Matthew Arnold for their rapid pacing and clarity of thought and expression, left an indelible mark on the canon. Harold Bloom, in his introduction, states that Homer defines epic, ômaking possible Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Tolstoy.ö