If we look beyond the unusual circumstances that prevail in both the Iliad and Odyssey, we find a fragmented world in which relatively small-scale local communities are the norm. In this chapter we reconstruct what Homeric communities look like and how they function, considering their basic social, political, economic, and religious structures. If we wish to link this picture to a specific archaeological period, the degree of settlement and community organization of Homeric communities seems fairly comparable to that of the Early Archaic period.