*Explains the Iliad's major themes, characters, and plot.
*Includes historic artwork depicting important characters and events in the Iliad.
*Discusses the historical basis of Homer, the Trojan War, and Ancient Greek culture.
*Includes a Table of Contents.
“Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, —
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.” – The Iliad
Perhaps the most famous epic poem ever written, The Iliad has been read for nearly 3,000 years, making it also one of the oldest written works in the Western world. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the Trojan War, the poem has made characters like Paris, Helen, Achilles, Hector, and Ajax instantly recognizable. The Iliad and the Odyssey influenced Virgil, whose Aeneid is clearly modeled after them, and every other great poet since. The epic poems also literally put Troy on the map, motivating Heinrich Schliemann to search for and ultimately find the city of Troy in the 19th century.