He was believed by the ancient Greeks to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets. Author of the first known literature of Europe. 

Homer was unique among the poets of his time, focusing on a single unified theme or action in the epic cycle.

Eminently rapid; eminently plain and direct, both in the evolution of his thought and in the expression of it, that is, both in his syntax and in his words; eminently plain and direct in the substance of his thought, that is, in his matter and ideas; eminently noble.

The peculiar rapidity of Homer is due in great measure to his use of hexameter verse.