The ancient Greeks held the religious teaching of Homer in such high esteem that when Greeks mastered writing, around the 8th century B.C., Homer's works were among the first to be written down. while in their religious festivals for some 500 years following, his were the only works whose reading was permitted. Unfortunately, the alien societies which overtook and absorbed Greek culture, though they admired the beauty of Homer's poetry and loved his tales - were deaf to his ethical teaching. Yet in the Odyssey and the Iliad, we shall argue, Homer not only provides the intellectual basis for Plato's philosophy but also memorably teaches the now fundamental lessons perhaps of all religion.