Iliad
Homer's epic poem recounting the wrath of Achilles during the final year of the Trojan War
The Meaning of Iliad
The Iliad, attributed to Homer and composed around the eighth century BCE, is the oldest surviving work of Western literature. Its narrative covers only a few weeks in the tenth year of the Trojan War, centring on the rage of Achilles after Agamemnon seizes his war-prize Briseis. Achilles withdraws from combat, and without their greatest warrior the Greek forces suffer catastrophic losses. Patroclus, Achilles' closest companion, dons his armour and enters battle to rally the Greeks, but is slain by Hector, prince of Troy. Consumed by grief and fury, Achilles returns to the field, kills Hector, and drags his corpse behind his chariot. The poem closes with Priam, Hector's aged father, journeying to the Greek camp to ransom his son's body — a scene of profound humanity that tempers the violence of the preceding books. The Iliad shaped Greek education, ethics, and literary tradition for centuries.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Iliad contains over 15,000 lines of dactylic hexameter verse and was originally performed orally at festivals before being written down
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Aeneid
💭 conceptLiterature
Virgil's epic poem following the Trojan hero Aeneas from the fall of Troy to the founding of Rome
Dionysiaca
💭 conceptLiterature
Nonnus's sprawling epic poem narrating the life and conquests of the god Dionysus in forty-eight books
The Trojan War
💭 conceptWar, fate, heroism
A ten-year siege of Troy by a coalition of Greek kings, sparked by the abduction of Helen and shaped by the rivalries of the gods.
Nonnus
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Dionysus
Late antique poet who composed the Dionysiaca, the longest surviving epic poem from Greco-Roman antiquity
Argonautica
💭 conceptLiterature
Apollonius of Rhodes' epic poem narrating Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece
Persians
💭 conceptLiterature
Aeschylus' tragedy dramatising the Persian defeat at the Battle of Salamis from the Persian perspective
Sack of Troy
💭 conceptNarrative
The brutal destruction and plundering of Troy during the night following the wooden horse stratagem
Hippolytus and Phaedra
💭 conceptNarrative
A tragedy of forbidden desire, false accusation, and divine cruelty destroying an innocent young prince
Seven Against Thebes
💭 conceptNarrative
The doomed military expedition of seven champions against the city of Thebes in the generation before the Trojan War
Trojan War
💭 conceptThe ten-year war that defined Greek mythology
The Trojan War was the central event of Greek mythology — a ten-year siege of Troy by a Greek coalition, sparked by the abduction of Helen and ended by the stratagem of the Wooden Horse.
Virgil
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Rome, fate
Roman poet who composed the Aeneid linking Rome's founding to the Trojan War through Aeneas's journey
House of Atreus
💭 conceptNarrative
The cursed royal dynasty of Mycenae whose generations of bloodshed and vengeance form the darkest saga in Greek mythology