Josephus, Αgainst Apion 1.12

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ὅλως δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὐδὲν ὁμολογούμενον εὑρίσκεται γράμμα τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως πρεσβύτερον, οὗτος δὲ καὶ τῶν Τροϊκῶν ὕστερος ὕστερος Eusebius: ὕστερον mss. φαίνεται γενόμενος· καί φασιν οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἐν γράμμασι τὴν αὑτοῦ ποίησιν καταλιπεῖν, ἀλλὰ διαμνημονευομένην ἐκ τῶν ἀισμάτων ὕστερον συντεθῆναι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλὰς ἐν αὐτῆι σχεῖν τὰς διαφωνίας.

Among the Greeks there is no written work at all which is agreed to be older than the poetry of Homer and he was clearly born even later than the Trojan War. And they say that not even he left his poetry in writing, but that having been kept alive in memory it was later put together out of the songs and it is for this reason that it has many inconsistencies in it.

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