Which of the following, if true, best
completes the passage below?
The traditional view of Homer is that of a
blind bard who wrote down the epic poems
known as the Iliad and the Odyssey in the
eighth century B.C.E. We know now, however,
that this picture cannot be true. The language
used in the epic poems contains elements of
the Greek language dating from the twelfth to
the eighth centuries B.C.E., but the Greek
writing system was not developed until the
late seventh century, when it was used to
record clerical notes. A more accurate
statement regarding Homer, therefore, is that,
if he existed, he most likely ______________.

A. wrote the poems down in the fifth century
B.C.E., using a preexisting oral tradition of
Greek epic poetry.
B. was involved in the recording of clerical
notes in Greek in the seventh century.
C. composed the poems orally in the eighth
century and then dictated them to a scribe
in the late seventh century.
D. composed the poems orally in the twelfth
century, using a predecessor of the Greek
language.
E. composed the poems orally in the eighth
century, using elements of preexisting
Greek epic poetry.