The Iliad and the Odyssey are set in the mythical past of ancient Greece, during a time when heroes and gods interacted with mortals. The Trojan War, which forms the backdrop of the Iliad, is believed to have taken place in the late Bronze Age, around the 12th or 13th century BCE. The Odyssey takes place after the Trojan War, as Odysseus travels through the Mediterranean world, encountering various mythological creatures and facing numerous obstacles on his journey back to his home in Ithaca.

In contrast, the poems themselves were composed much later, during a period known as the Archaic Period of ancient Greece, which lasted from the 8th to the 6th centuries BCE. The exact dates of composition are not known, but it is generally believed that the Iliad and the Odyssey were orally transmitted for several centuries before they were finally written down in the form that we know them today.

It is important to note that the poems were not simply written down by a single author, but were the result of a long tradition of oral storytelling and performance. The epic poets or "rhapsodes" would perform the poems in public, often improvising and adapting the story to suit the audience and the occasion. It is only in later centuries that the poems were compiled and standardized into the written texts that we have today.
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