The Number Nine.

If one reads through the Odyssey and the Iliad, the number nine just keeps popping up. There may be several reasons for this, but i find one particularly compelling. While doing some background research, i found that there were in fact nine muses (the goddesses of literature and the arts). Perhaps this is a coincidence, but it may be a "shout out" to those goddesses. Just to name a few examples of where this pops up:

• After leaving the Aeolian Isalnd. "Nine whole days we sailed, nine nights, nonstop" (231).
• They start the Iliad after nine years of war.
• Also in the Iliad, there is a scene with nine heralds.
• Others examples...