This curious work dates in its present form from the lifetime or
shortly after the death of Hadrian, but seems to be based in part on an
earlier version by the sophist Alcidamas (c. 400 B.C.). Plutarch
(_Conviv. Sept. Sap._, 40) uses an earlier (or at least a shorter)
version than that which we possess 1118. The extant _Contest_, however,
has clearly combined with the original document much other ill-digested
matter on the life and descent of Homer, probably drawing on the same
general sources as does the Herodotean _Life of Homer_. Its scope is as
follows: (1) the descent (as variously reported) and relative dates of
Homer and Hesiod; (2) their poetical contest at Chalcis; (3) the death
of Hesiod; (4) the wanderings and fortunes of Homer, with brief notices
of the circumstances under which his reputed works were composed, down
to the time of his death.
The whole tract is, of course, mere romance; its only values are (1)
the insight it give into ancient speculations about Homer; (2) a
certain amount of definite information about the Cyclic poems; and (3)
the epic fragments included in the stichomythia of the _Contest_
proper, many of which—did we possess the clue—would have to be referred
to poems of the Epic Cycle.