Frog and Rat Battle

...The common belief that Homer was a blind poet comes from a reference to the author himself in the "Hymne to Apollo" in the "Homeric Hymns," and since the Hellenistic period, busts of Homer have always depicted him as a blind old man. Finally, in addition to the two great epics, other works that were ascribed to him in the "epic world" include "Thebais," "Epigoni," and "Cypria," as well as the humorous poem "Margites" (only fragments of which remain), the approximately 300-line "The Battle of the Frog and the Mouse," and over 30 short and long "Homeric Hymns." Today, however, it is generally believed that none of the works except for the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" were written by Homer.
[The Homer Problem]
Despite this ambiguity in the traditions of Homer, at least as far as the Iliad and the Odyssey are concerned, the ancients did not doubt that they were written by Homer, with the exception of some scholars in Alexandria who were called "schismatics" and who claimed that the Odyssey was written by someone other than Homer.

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "The Battle of the Frog and the Rat" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…なお，ホメロスを盲目の詩人とする巷説は，《ホメロス風賛歌》中の〈アポロン賛歌〉にある〈峨々たるキオスに住む盲（めしい）の人〉という作者自身への言及に由来するもので，ヘレニズム時代以降のホメロスの胸像等はつねに彼を盲目の老人で表現している。　最後に作品については，古くは二大叙事詩のほかにも，〈叙事詩圏〉中の《テーバイス》《エピゴノイ》《キュプリア》や，滑稽詩《マルギテス》(これらはいずれも断片しか伝わらない)，約300行の《蛙鼠（あそ）合戦》，長短30数編の《ホメロス風賛歌》などが彼に帰されていたが，今日では，《イーリアス》《オデュッセイア》以外はいずれもホメロスの作にあらずと判断されている。
［ホメロス問題］
　このようにホメロスに関する伝承があいまいであるにもかかわらず，少なくとも《イーリアス》と《オデュッセイア》に関するかぎり，古代人はそれがホメロスの作たることを信じて疑わず，《オデュッセイア》はホメロスとは別人の作と唱えて〈分離派〉と呼ばれたアレクサンドリアの一部の学者の声などは，まったくの例外にすぎなかった。…

※「《蛙鼠合戦》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報