The Iliad and the Odyssey occupy a rather ambiguous place in the history of Greek, and European, literature. On the one hand, they are at the very beginning of the written poetic tradition. On the other hand, they also represent the culmination of a lengthy tradition of orally-transmitted verse. Thus Homeric poetry constitutes something of a paradox: on the one hand, direct, traditional, and seemingly unselfconscious; on the other hand, complex in intertextual associations, sophisticated in organization and deployment of artistic devices. Not just historical curiosity, but also high art deserving of our most serious attention. In this course we will explore this dual standing through a close reading of six books from each of the epics (in Lattimore's translations), highlighting the special characteristics of orally composed and transmitted poetry, as well as its social functions.