Where does Homer come from?

The language of Homer is the starting point of experts who want to find out where Homer lived. The only place, where at this time Ionia and Aeolia dialects intersects is the place where we call İzmir today. If new researches do not show any further evidence, we accept now his birthplace as the region between ancient Foça (Phokaia), Smyrna (8 km. north from İzmir) and Değirmendere (Kolophon).

Another clue about his birthplace mentioned above is the name of the poet itself. "Homeros" in Aeolic dialect is "Homaros" in Ionic dialect. The families of the poet who were living between Ionia and Aeonia gave their sons this name, which means "warranter" or "hostage". Since Aristotle, his name is explained that way. Therefore we can deduce the region where he might had lived from his name where the Ionic and Aiolic dialects intersect.