The Iliad by Homer
A divinely beautiful woman who becomes the cause of a terrible war in which the gods themselves take sides. Valor and villainy, sacrifices and betrayals, triumphs and tragedies play their part in this three thousand year old saga...
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A divinely beautiful woman who becomes the cause of a terrible war
in which the gods themselves take sides. Valor and villainy,
sacrifices and betrayals, triumphs and tragedies play their part in
this three thousand year old saga. The Iliad throws us right into
the thick of battle. It opens when the Trojan War has already been
raging for nine long years. An uneasy truce has been declared
between the Trojans and the Greeks (Achaeans as they're called in
The Iliad.) In the Greek camp, Agamemnon the King of Mycenae and
Achilles the proud and valiant warrior of Phthia are locked in a
fierce contest to claim the spoils of war. The gods in Olympus
watch horrified as the best of Greeks and Trojans are slain.
However, Zeus has prohibited them from openly interfering. But
finally, even the gods cannot stay neutral. The mighty Zeus steps
in to prod the Trojans into breaching the truce. Achilles, who is
sulking in his tent refuses to fight and the Greeks suffer terrible
losses. Achilles, a demigod is the son of the sea nymph Thetis and
the King of the Myrmidions Peleus. He has been rendered immortal
like the gods except for one spot near his foot where his mother
held him while she dipped him in the Styx. He is the greatest hero
in The Iliad and known for his rage, impulsiveness and courage. He
watches as his comrades fall one by one and finally puts his pride
aside. He sends his beloved friend Patroclus into battle. But
Apollo, the savior of the Trojans, dashes away Patroclus' armor and
the Trojan prince Hector slays him. Maddened by anger and grief,
Achilles vows revenge and resumes battle. And the epic goes on...
The Iliad is purportedly written by the blind poet Homer some time
during the eighth century BC. Its supreme importance in Greek
literature slowly permeated to the rest of the Western world and in
time to come, the two epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey became
the reference points for thousands of works of art. European
museums and art galleries are filled with works based on the
themes, heroes and divinities from The Iliad. Contemporary films
have portrayed the Trojan War, while tourists throng the sites
mentioned in the poems. It was first translated into English in the
sixteenth century and has since then, gripped the collective
imagination for generations. As one of the defining myths of
western literature, The Iliad is indeed a must read for anyone
interested in an epic tale.
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