Homer was considered by ancient Greeks the poète par excellence, and he is encountered in almost every writer dealing with issues of rhetoric and philosophy. Moreover, the works of Homer provide our earliest direct insights into the religious thought of the Greeks,² and he was regarded not only as the best poet, but often also as a theologian. The Alexandrian commentators Ammonius and Asclepius are only two of the many Neoplatonic philosophers who made use of the ancient Greek literary tradition (in which the Homeric tradition has the leading role) in their philosophical discussions.