Most of us came out of Popeye, so turning Popeye into something believable was tricky enough.
Being on the run, having to change the way that you do business, being unable to plan in a safe and secure environment, always looking over your shoulder, knowing that some day somebody's going to knock on your door and it's going to be your last.
Homer was able to give us no information relating to the truth, for he wrote of human rather than divine things.