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=                               Iliad                                =
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                            Introduction
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The 'Iliad' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems
attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of
literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the
'Odyssey', the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in
dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely
accepted version. The 'Iliad' is often regarded as the first
substantial piece of European literature and is a central part of the
Epic Cycle.

Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of
Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts
significant events in the war's final weeks. In particular, it traces
the anger () of Achilles, a celebrated warrior, from a fierce quarrel
between him and King Agamemnon, to the death of the Trojan prince
Hector. The narrative moves between wide battleground scenes and more
personal interactions.

The 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' were likely composed in Homeric Greek, a
literary mixture of Ionic Greek and other dialects, around the late
8th or early 7th century BC. Homer's authorship was infrequently
questioned in antiquity, although the poem's composition has been
extensively debated in contemporary scholarship, involving debates
such as whether the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' were composed
independently, and whether they survived via an oral or also written
tradition. The poem was performed by professional reciters of Homer
known as rhapsodes at Greek festivals such as the Panathenaia.

Critical themes in the poem include 'kleos' (glory), pride, fate, and
wrath. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious
themes, the poem also contains instances of comedy and laughter. The
poem is frequently described as a "heroic" epic, centred around issues
such as war, violence, and the heroic code. It contains detailed
descriptions of ancient warfare, including battle tactics and
equipment. However, it also explores the social and domestic side of
ancient culture in scenes behind the walls of Troy and in the Greek
camp. Additionally, the Olympian gods play a major role in the poem,
aiding their favoured warriors on the battlefield and intervening in
personal disputes. Their anthropomorphic characterisation in the poem
humanised them for Ancient Greek audiences, giving a concrete sense of
their cultural and religious tradition. In terms of formal style, the
poem's formulae, use of similes, and epithets are often explored by
scholars.


Exposition (Books 1–4)
========================
Source:

The story begins with an invocation to the Muse. The events take place
towards the end of the Trojan War, fought between the Trojans and the
besieging Achaeans. The Achaean forces consist of armies from many
different Greek kingdoms, led by their respective kings or princes.
Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, acts as commander for these united armies.

Chryses, a priest of Apollo, offers Agamemnon and the Achaeans wealth
for the return of his daughter Chryseis, held captive by Agamemnon.
Although most of the Achaeans are in favour of the offer, Agamemnon
refuses. Chryses prays for Apollo's help, and Apollo sends a plague to
afflict the Achaean army. After nine days of plague, Achilles, the
leader of the Myrmidon forces and 'aristos achaion' ("best of the
Greeks"), calls an assembly to deal with the problem. Under pressure,
Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis to her father but decides to take
Achilles's slave, Briseis, as compensation. Viewing Agamemnon's
decision as a huge dishonour in front of the assembled Achaean forces,
Achilles furiously declares that he and his men will no longer fight
for Agamemnon. Odysseus returns Chryseis to her father, causing Apollo
to end the plague.

In the meantime, Agamemnon's messengers take Briseis away. Achilles
becomes very upset and prays to his mother, Thetis, a minor goddess
and sea nymph. Achilles asks his mother to supplicate Zeus, wanting
the Achaeans to be beaten back by the Trojans until their ships are at
risk of being burnt. Only then will Agamemnon realise how much the
Achaeans need Achilles and restore his honour. Thetis does so, and
Zeus agrees. Zeus then sends a dream to Agamemnon, urging him to
attack Troy. Agamemnon heeds the dream but first decides to test the
Achaean army's morale by telling them to go home. However nine years
into the war, the soldiers' morale has worn thin. The plan backfires,
and only the intervention of Odysseus, inspired by Athena, stops a
rout. Odysseus confronts and beats Thersites, a common soldier who
voices discontent about fighting Agamemnon's war.

The Achaeans deploy in companies upon the Trojan plain. When news of
the Achaean deployment reaches King Priam, the Trojans respond in a
sortie upon the plain. The armies approach each other, but before they
meet, Paris offers to end the war by fighting a duel with Menelaus,
urged by Hector, his brother and hero of Troy. Here, the initial cause
of the entire war is explained: Helen, wife of Menelaus, and the most
beautiful woman in the world, was taken by Paris from Menelaus's home
in Sparta. Menelaus and Paris agree to duel; Helen will marry the
victor. However, when Paris is defeated, Aphrodite rescues him and
leads him to bed with Helen before Menelaus can kill him.

The gods deliberate over whether the war should end here, but Hera
convinces Zeus to wait for the utter destruction of Troy. Athena
prompts the Trojan archer Pandarus to shoot Menelaus. Menelaus is
wounded, and the truce is broken. Fighting breaks out, and many
Achaeans and Trojans are killed.


Duels of Greek and Trojan Heroes (Books 5–7)
==============================================
Source:

In the fighting, Diomedes kills many Trojans, including Pandarus, and
defeats Aeneas. Aphrodite rescues him before he can be killed, but
Diomedes attacks her and wounds the goddess's wrist. Apollo faces
Diomedes and warns him against warring with gods, which Diomedes
ignores. Apollo sends Ares to defeat Diomedes. Many heroes and
commanders join in, including Hector, and the gods supporting each
side try to influence the battle. Emboldened by Athena, Diomedes
wounds Ares and puts him out of action.

Hector rallies the Trojans and prevents a rout. Diomedes and the
Trojan Glaucus find common ground after a duel and exchange unequal
gifts, sparked by Glaucus' story of Bellerophon. Hector enters the
city, urging his mother Hecuba to perform prayers and sacrifices,
inciting Paris to battle, and bidding his wife Andromache and son
Astyanax farewell on the city walls. He then rejoins the battle.
Hector duels with Ajax, but nightfall interrupts the fight, and both
sides retire. The Trojans quarrel about returning Helen to the
Achaeans. Paris offers to return the treasure he took and give further
wealth as compensation, but not Helen, and the offer is refused. Both
sides agree to a day's truce to bury the dead. The Achaeans also build
a wall and trench to protect their camp and ships.


The Rout of the Greeks (Books 8–15)
=====================================
Source:

The next morning, Zeus prohibits the gods from interfering, and
fighting begins anew. The Trojans prevail and force the Achaeans back
to their wall. Hera and Athena are forbidden to help. Night falls
before the Trojans can assail the Achaean wall. They camp in the field
to attack at first light, and their watchfires light the plain like
stars.

Meanwhile, the Achaeans are desperate. Agamemnon admits his error and
sends an embassy composed of Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix to offer
Briseis and extensive gifts to Achilles, if he will return to the
fighting. Achilles and his companion Patroclus receive the embassy,
yet Achilles angrily refuses the offer, considering the slight to his
honour too great. He declares that he will only return to battle if
the Trojans reach his ships and threaten them with fire. The embassy
returns, unsuccessful.

Later that night, Odysseus and Diomedes venture out to the Trojan
lines, kill the Trojan Dolon, and wreak havoc in the camp of some
Thracian allies of Troy. In the morning, the fighting is fierce, and
Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus are all wounded. Achilles sends
Patroclus from his camp to inquire about the Achaean casualties, and
while there, Patroclus is moved to pity by a speech by Nestor. Nestor
asks Patroclus to beg Achilles to rejoin the fighting, or if he will
not, to lead the army himself wearing Achilles's armor.

The Trojans attack the Achaean wall on foot. Hector leads the terrible
fighting, despite an omen that their charge will fail. The Achaeans
are overwhelmed and routed, the wall's gate is broken, and Hector
charges in. The Achaeans fall back to their ships.

Poseidon pities the Achaeans and decides to disobey Zeus and help
them. He rallies the Achaeans' spirits, and they begin to push the
Trojans back. Poseidon's nephew Amphimachus is killed in the battle;
Poseidon imbues Idomeneus with godly power. Many fall on both sides.
The Trojan seer Polydamas urges Hector to fall back because of a bad
omen but is ignored.

Hera seduces Zeus and lulls him to sleep, allowing Poseidon to help
the Greeks. The Trojans are driven back onto the plain. Ajax wounds
Hector, who is then carried back to Troy. Zeus awakes and is enraged
by Poseidon's intervention. However, he reassures Hera that Troy is
still fated to fall once Hector kills Patroclus. Poseidon is recalled
from the battlefield, and Zeus sends Apollo to aid the Trojans. The
Trojans once again breach the wall, and the battle reaches the ships.


The Death of Patroclus (Books 16–18)
======================================
Source:

Patroclus cannot stand to watch any longer and goes to Achilles,
weeping. He admonishes him for his stubbornness and then asks him to
allow him to fight in his place, wearing Achilles's armor so that he
will be mistaken for him. Achilles relents and lends Patroclus his
armor but sends him off with a stern warning to come back once the
Trojans have been pushed back and not to pursue them to the walls.
Achilles says that after all has been made right, he and Patroclus
will take Troy together.

Patroclus leads the Myrmidons into battle and arrives as the Trojans
set fire to the first ships. The Trojans are routed by the sudden
onslaught, and Patroclus begins his assault by killing Zeus's son
Sarpedon, a leading ally of the Trojans. Patroclus, ignoring
Achilles's command, pursues and reaches the gates of Troy, where
Apollo himself stops him. Patroclus kills Hector's charioteer
Cebriones, is weakened by Apollo and Euphorbos, and is finally killed
by Hector.

Hector takes Achilles' armor from the fallen Patroclus. The Achaeans
fight to retrieve Patroclus's body from the Trojans, who attempt to
carry it back to Troy at Hector's command. Antilochus is sent to tell
Achilles the news and asks him to help retrieve the body.

When Achilles hears of Patroclus's death, his grief is so overwhelming
that his mother, Thetis, hears him from the bottom of the ocean.
Thetis grieves too, knowing that Achilles is fated to die if he kills
Hector. Although he knows it will seal his own fate, Achilles vows to
kill Hector in order to avenge Patroclus.

Achilles is urged to help retrieve Patroclus's body but has no armor
to wear. Bathed in a brilliant radiance by Athena, Achilles stands
next to the Achaean wall and roars in rage. The Trojans are terrified
by his appearance, and the Achaeans manage to bear Patroclus's body
away. Polydamas again urges Hector to withdraw into the city; again,
Hector refuses, and the Trojans camp on the plain at nightfall.

Achilles mourns Patroclus, brokenhearted. Meanwhile, at Thetis's
request, Hephaestus fashions a new set of armor for Achilles,
including a magnificently wrought shield.


The Rage of Achilles (Books 19–24)
====================================
Source:

In the morning, Thetis brings Achilles his new set of armor, only to
find him weeping over Patroclus's body. Achilles arms for battle and
rallies the Achaean warriors. Agamemnon gives Achilles all the
promised gifts, including Briseis, but Achilles is indifferent to
them. The Achaeans take their meal, but Achilles refuses to eat. His
horse, Xanthos, prophesies Achilles's death; Achilles is indifferent.
Achilles goes into battle, with Automedon driving his chariot.

Zeus lifts the ban on the gods' interference, and the gods freely help
both sides. Achilles, burning with rage and grief, slays many Trojans.
Achilles slaughters half the Trojans' number in the river, clogging
the water with bodies. The river god, Scamander, confronts Achilles
and commands him to stop killing Trojans, but Achilles refuses. They
fight until Scamander is beaten back by Hephaestus's firestorm. The
gods fight amongst themselves. The great gates of the city are opened
to receive the fleeing Trojans, and Apollo leads Achilles away from
the city by pretending to be a Trojan. When Apollo reveals himself to
Achilles, the Trojans have retreated into the safety of the city, all
except for Hector.

Despite the pleas of his parents, Priam and Hecuba, Hector resolves to
face Achilles. When Achilles approaches, however, Hector's will fails
him. He flees and is chased by Achilles around the city. Finally,
Athena tricks him into stopping by taking on the form of his brother
Deiphobus, and he turns to face his opponent. After a brief duel,
Achilles stabs Hector through the neck. Before dying, Hector reminds
Achilles that he, too, is fated to die. Achilles strips Hector of his
own armour, gloating over his death. Achilles then dishonours Hector's
body by lashing it to the back of his chariot and dragging it around
the city. Hecuba and Priam lament, with the latter attempting to face
Achilles himself. Andromache hears the news and comes to the walls,
fainting on seeing the scene below. The Trojans grieve.

The ghost of Patroclus comes to Achilles in a dream, urging him to
carry out the burial rites so that his spirit can move on to the
Underworld. Patroclus asks Achilles to arrange for their bones to be
entombed together in a single urn; Achilles agrees, and Patroclus's
body is cremated. The Achaeans hold a day of funeral games, and
Achilles gives out the prizes.

Achilles is lost in his grief and spends his days mourning Patroclus
and dragging Hector's body behind his chariot. Dismayed by Achilles's
continued abuse of Hector's body, Zeus decides that it must be
returned to Priam. Led by Hermes, Priam takes a wagon filled with
gifts across the plains and into the Achaean camp unnoticed. He clasps
Achilles by the knees and begs for his son's body. Achilles is moved
to tears and finally relents, softening his anger. The two lament
their losses in the war. Achilles agrees to give Hector's body back
and to give the Trojans twelve days to properly mourn and bury him.
Achilles apologises to Patroclus, fearing he has dishonored him by
returning Hector's body. After a meal, Priam carries Hector's body
back into Troy. Hector is buried, and the city mourns.


Religion
==========
Ancient Greek religion had no strict organisation, rather arising out
of the diverse beliefs of the Greek people. Adkins and Pollard state
that "The early Greeks personalized every aspect of their world,
natural and cultural, and their experiences in it. The earth, the sea,
the mountains, the rivers, custom-law ('themis'), and one's share in
society and its goods were all seen in personal as well as
naturalistic terms". They perceived the world and its changes a result
of divine intervention or presence. Often, they found these events to
be mysterious and inexplicable.

In the 'Iliad', the Olympian gods, goddesses, and minor deities fight
among themselves as well as participating in human warfare, often by
interfering with mortals to oppose other gods. Homer's portrayal of
gods suits his narrative purpose, although the gods in 4th century
Athenian thought were not spoken of in terms familiar to the works of
Homer. The historian Herodotus says that Homer and Hesiod, his
contemporary, were the first writers to name and describe the gods'
appearance and character.

Some scholars discuss the intervention of the gods in the mortal
world, spurred by quarrels they had with each other. Homer interprets
the Iliadic world by using the passion and emotion of the gods to be
determining factors of what happens on the human level. Book 24 offers
a retrospective discussion of the cause of the war, attributing it to
the anger of Hera and Athena:



Athena and Hera oppose Paris because of a beauty contest on Mount
Olympus in which he chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess over
them. Wolfgang Kullmann further goes on to say, "Hera's and Athena's
disappointment over the victory of Aphrodite in the Judgement of Paris
determines the whole conduct of both goddesses in 'The Iliad' and is
the cause of their hatred for Paris, the Judge, and his town Troy".

Hera and Athena continue to support the Achaean forces throughout the
poem as a result of this, while Aphrodite aids Paris and the Trojans.
The emotions between the goddesses often translate to actions they
take in the mortal world. For example, in Book 3 of the 'Iliad', Paris
is about to be defeated by Menelaus, who had challenged him to single
combat, however, Aphrodite intervenes to save Paris from the wrath of
Menelaus: "Now he'd have hauled him off and won undying glory but
Aphrodite, Zeus's daughter, was quick to the mark, snapped the rawhide
strap." This connection of emotions to actions is just one example out
of many that occur throughout the poem: there is constant intervention
by all of the gods, especially to give motivational speeches to their
respective protégés, often appearing in the shape of a human being
they are familiar with.

Mary Lefkowitz discusses the relevance of divine action in the
'Iliad', attempting to answer the question of whether divine
intervention is a discrete occurrence (for its own sake) or if such
godly behaviors are mere human character metaphors. The intellectual
interest of 5th- and 4th-century BC authors, such as Thucydides and
Plato, was limited to their utility as "a way of talking about human
life rather than a description or a truth", because, if the gods
remain religious figures, rather than human metaphors, their
"existence" - without the foundation of either dogma or a bible of
faiths - then allowed Greek culture the intellectual breadth and
freedom to conjure gods fitting any religious function they required
as a people.

Psychologist Julian Jaynes uses the 'Iliad' as a major piece of
evidence for his theory of the Bicameral Mind, which posits that until
about the time described in the 'Iliad', humans had a far different
mentality from present-day humans. He says that humans during that
time were lacking what is today called consciousness. He suggests that
humans heard and obeyed commands from what they identified as gods
until the change in human mentality that incorporated the motivating
force into the conscious self. He points out that almost every action
in the 'Iliad' is directed, caused, or influenced by a god and that
earlier translations show an astonishing lack of words suggesting
thought, planning, or introspection. Those that do appear, he argues,
are misinterpretations made by translators imposing a modern mentality
on the characters, a form of reverse logic by which a conclusion
determines the validity of evidence.


Fate
======
Fate () propels most of the events of the 'Iliad'. Gods and men abide
by it, unable to contest or change it. It is highlighted and
referenced throughout the narrative in multiple methods, for example,
Zeus sending omens to seers such as Calchas, or Thetis' prophecies of
Achilles' imminent death. Men and their gods continually speak of
heroic acceptance and cowardly avoidance of one's fate. Fate does not
determine every action, incident, and occurrence, but it does
determine the outcome of life. For example, Patroclus prophesies
Hector's death:



Here, Patroclus alludes to his fated death by Hector's hand and to
Hector's fated death by Achilles's hand. Each accepts the outcome of
his life, yet persist regardless. However, fate is not always accepted
outright. The first instance of this doubt occurs in Book 16. Seeing
Patroclus about to kill Sarpedon, his mortal son, Zeus says:



About his dilemma, Hera asks Zeus:



In deciding between losing a son or abiding fate, Zeus, King of the
Gods, must conform to the latter. This motif recurs when he considers
sparing Hector, whom he loves and respects. This time, it is Athena
who challenges him:



Again, Zeus appears capable of altering fate, but does not, deciding
instead to abide by set outcomes. Similarly, Fate spares Aeneas after
Apollo convinces the overmatched Trojan to fight Achilles. Poseidon
cautiously speaks:



Divinely aided, Aeneas escapes the wrath of Achilles and survives the
Trojan War. Whether or not the gods can alter fate, they do abide by
it, despite its countering their human allegiances. The mysterious
origin of Fate remains a power beyond both mortals and immortals.


{{transliteration|grc|Kleos}}
===============================
(, "glory, fame") is the concept of glory earned in heroic battle. It
is a fluctuating quality that can be given or taken, increased or
decreased. In particular, Achilles is deeply concerned about his
'kleos'. In Book 9 (9.410-16), Achilles poignantly tells Agamemnon's
envoys  - Odysseus, Phoenix, and Ajax - begging his reinstatement to
battle about having to choose between two fates (, 9.411).

The passage reads:


In forgoing his , he will earn the greater reward of  (, "fame
imperishable"). In the poem,  (, "imperishable") occurs five other
times, each occurrence denotes an object: Agamemnon's sceptre, the
wheel of Hebe's chariot, the house of Poseidon, the throne of Zeus,
and the house of Hephaestus. Translator Lattimore renders  as "forever
immortal" and as "forever imperishable" - connoting Achilles's
mortality by underscoring his greater reward in returning to battle
Troy.

is often given visible representation by the prizes won in battle.
When Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles, he takes away a portion of
the  he had earned.

Achilles' shield, crafted by Hephaestus and given to him by his
mother, Thetis, bears an image of stars in the centre. The stars
conjure profound images of the place of a single man, no matter how
heroic, in the perspective of the entire cosmos.


{{transliteration|grc|Nostos}}
================================
(, "homecoming") occurs seven times in the poem, making it a minor
theme in the 'Iliad' itself. Yet the concept of homecoming is much
explored in other Ancient Greek literature, especially in the postwar
homeward fortunes experienced by the Atreidae (Agamemnon and Menelaus)
and Odysseus (see the 'Odyssey').


Pride
=======
Pride drives the plot of the 'Iliad'. The Achaeans gather on the plain
of Troy to wrest Helen from the Trojans. Though the majority of the
Trojans would gladly return Helen to the Achaeans, they defer to the
pride of their prince, Alexandros, also known as Paris. Within this
frame, Homer's work begins. At the start of the 'Iliad', Agamemnon's
pride sets forth a chain of events that leads him to take from
Achilles, Briseis, the girl he had originally given Achilles in return
for his martial prowess. Due to this slight, Achilles refuses to fight
and asks his mother, Thetis, to make sure that Zeus causes the
Achaeans to suffer on the battlefield until Agamemnon comes to realize
the harm he has done to him.

Achilles's pride allows him to beg Thetis for the deaths of his
Achaean friends. When in Book 9 his friends urge him to return,
offering him loot and his slave, Briseis, he refuses, stuck in his
vengeful pride. Achilles remains stuck until the very end, when his
anger at himself for Patroclus's death overcomes his pride at
Agamemnon's slight and he returns to kill Hector. He overcomes his
pride again when he keeps his anger in check and returns Hector to
Priam at the epic's close. From epic start to epic finish, pride
drives the plot.


Heroism
=========
'The Iliad' portrays the theme of heroism in a variety of different
ways through different characters, mainly Achilles, Hector, Patroclus,
etc. Though the traditional concept of heroism is often tied directly
to the protagonist, who is meant to be written in a heroic light, the
'Iliad' plays with this idea of heroism and does not make it
explicitly clear who the true hero of the story is. The story of the
'Iliad' follows the great Greek warrior Achilles, as well as his rage
and the destruction it causes. Parallel to this, the story also
follows the Trojan warrior Hector and his efforts to fight to protect
his family and his people. It is generally assumed that, because he is
the protagonist, Achilles is the hero of this story. Examining his
actions throughout the 'Iliad' and comparing them to those of other
characters, however, some may come to the conclusion that Achilles is
not really the hero, and perhaps even an antihero. It can also be
argued that Hector is the true hero of the 'Iliad' due to his
inherently heroic qualities, such as his loyalty to his family and
strength and determination to defend his people, and the focus at the
end of the story on burying Hector with honor. The true hero of the
'Iliad' is never shown explicitly and is purposefully left up to
interpretation by the author, Homer, who aimed to show the complexity
and flaws of both characters, regardless of who is considered the
"true" hero.


{{transliteration|grc|Timē}}
==============================
Akin to  is  (, "respect, honor"), the concept denoting the
respectability an honorable man accrues with accomplishment (cultural,
political, martial), per his station in life. In Book I, the Achaean
troubles begin with King Agamemnon's dishonorable, unkingly behavior -
first, by threatening the priest Chryses (1.11), then, by aggravating
them in disrespecting Achilles, by confiscating Briseis from him
(1.171). The warrior's consequent rancor against the dishonorable king
ruins the Achaean military cause.


{{transliteration|grc|Hubris}}
================================
() plays a part similar to . The epic takes as its thesis the anger of
Achilles and the destruction it brings. Anger disturbs the distance
between human beings and the gods. Uncontrolled anger destroys orderly
social relationships and upsets the balance of correct actions
necessary to keep the gods away from human beings. Despite the epic's
focus on Achilles's rage,  also plays a prominent role, serving as
both kindling and fuel for many destructive events.

Agamemnon refuses to ransom Chryseis out of  and harms Achilles' pride
when he demands her. Hubris forces Paris to fight against Menelaus.
Agamemnon spurs the Achaeans to fight by calling into question
Odysseus, Diomedes, and Nestor's pride, asking why they are cowering
and waiting for help when they should be the ones leading the charge.
While the events of the 'Iliad' focus on Achilles' rage and the
destruction it brings on,  fuels and stokes them both.


{{transliteration|grc|Mēnis}}
===============================
The poem's initial word,  (; acc. , , "wrath", "rage", "fury"),
establishes the 'Iliad's' principal theme: the "Wrath of Achilles".
His personal rage and wounded soldier's pride propel the story: the
Achaeans' faltering in battle, the slayings of Patroclus and Hector,
and the fall of Troy. In Book I, the Wrath of Achilles first emerges
in the Achilles-convoked meeting between the Greek kings and the seer
Calchas. King Agamemnon dishonours Chryses, the Trojan priest of
Apollo, by refusing with a threat the restitution of his daughter,
Chryseis - despite the proffered ransom of "gifts beyond count". The
insulted priest prays to Apollo for help, and a nine-day rain of
divine plague arrows falls upon the Achaeans. Moreover, in that
meeting, Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being "greediest for gain of
all men". To that, Agamemnon replies:



After that, only Athena stays Achilles' wrath. He vows to never again
obey orders from Agamemnon. Furious, Achilles cries to his mother,
Thetis, who persuades Zeus's divine intervention - favouring the
Trojans - until Achilles's rights are restored. Meanwhile, Hector
leads the Trojans to almost pushing the Achaeans back to the sea (Book
XII). Later, Agamemnon contemplates defeat and retreat to Greece (Book
XIV). Again, the Wrath of Achilles turns the war's tide in seeking
vengeance when Hector kills Patroclus. Aggrieved, Achilles tears his
hair and dirties his face. Thetis comforts her mourning son, who tells
her:



Accepting the prospect of death as fair price for avenging Patroclus,
he returns to battle, dooming Hector and Troy, thrice chasing him
around the Trojan walls before slaying him and then dragging the
corpse behind his chariot, back to camp.


War
=====
Much of the 'Iliad' focuses on death-dealing. To gain status, heroes
must be good at killing. Though not as prevalent, there are instances
where the author showcases the peaceful aspects of war. The first
instance of this is in book 3 when Menelaus and Paris agree to fight
one one-on-one to end the war. This conversation between Menelaus and
Paris highlights the overwhelming desire for peace on both sides. Also
in book 3, we see peace when the elders talk to Priam saying that
though Helen is a beautiful woman, war is still too high a price to
pay for one person. These events display the humanity of the war. In
book 6, when Hector goes back into the city to visit his family, this
event is another powerful show of peace because we get to see that
Hector is more than a great warrior. He is a loving father and devoted
husband. The love that is shared between him and his family contrasts
with the gory battle scenes, noting the importance of peace. The final
moments of peace are in books 23 and 24. The first of these is the
funeral games that are held for Patroclus. The games show the
happiness, grief, and joy that can happen during the war. In book 24,
peace is highlighted again when Achilles and Priam share food and
grief for their recent losses. In this encounter, the two empathize
with one another and agree to a truce of twelve days for the burial of
Hector.


                      Date and textual history
======================================================================
The poem dates to the archaic period of Classical antiquity. Scholarly
consensus mostly places it in the late 8th century BC, although some
favour a 7th-century date. In any case, the  for the dating of the
'Iliad' is 630 BC, as evidenced by reflection in art and literature.

Herodotus, having consulted the Oracle at Dodona, placed Homer and
Hesiod at approximately 400 years before his own time, which would
place them at .

The historical backdrop of the poem is the time of the Late Bronze Age
collapse, in the early 12th century BC. Homer is thus separated from
his subject matter by about 400 years, the period known as the Greek
Dark Ages. Intense scholarly debate has surrounded the question of
which portions of the poem preserve genuine traditions from the
Mycenaean period. The 'Catalogue of Ships' in particular has the
striking feature that its geography does not portray Greece in the
Iron Age, the time of Homer, but as it was before the Dorian invasion.

The title  (; gen. , 'Iliados') is an ellipsis of  ", 'he poíesis
Iliás'", meaning "the Ilian (Trojan) poem".  (of Ilion/Troy) is the
specifically feminine adjective form from  (Ilion/Troy). The masculine
adjective form would be  or . It is used by Herodotus.

Venetus A, copied in the 10th century AD, is the oldest fully extant
manuscript of the 'Iliad'. It contains the text of the Iliad as well
as annotations, glosses, and commentaries, the "A scholia". Venetus A
may be the work of Aristophanes of Byzantium of the Library of
Alexandria. This is the oldest existing manuscript of Homer's Iliad.
It is regarded as the best text of the Iliad. (Biblioteca Marciana in
Venice as Codex Marcianus Graecus 454, now 822).

The first edition of the 'Iliad', , was edited by Demetrius
Chalcondyles and published by Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas
in Florence in 1489.


As oral tradition
===================
In antiquity, the Greeks applied the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' as the
bases of pedagogy. Literature was central to the educational-cultural
function of the itinerant rhapsode, who composed consistent epic poems
from memory and improvisation and disseminated them, via song and
chant, in his travels and at the Panathenaic Festival of athletics,
music, poetics, and sacrifice, celebrating Athena's birthday.

Originally, Classical scholars treated the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey'
as written poetry, and Homer as a writer, yet by the 1920s, Milman
Parry (1902-1935) had launched a movement claiming otherwise. His
investigation of the oral Homeric style - "stock epithets" and
"reiteration" (words, phrases, stanzas) - established that these
'formulae' were artifacts of oral tradition easily applied to a
hexametric line. A two-word stock epithet (e.g., "resourceful
Odysseus") reiteration may complement a character name by filling a
half-line, thus freeing the poet to compose a half-line of "original"
formulaic text to complete his meaning. In Yugoslavia, Parry and his
assistant, Albert Lord (1912-1991), studied the oral-formulaic
composition of Serbian oral poetry, yielding the Parry/Lord thesis
that established oral tradition studies, later developed by Eric
Havelock, Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong, and Gregory Nagy.

In 'The Singer of Tales' (1960), Lord presents likenesses between the
tragedies of the Achaean Patroclus in the 'Iliad' and the Sumerian
Enkidu in the 'Epic of Gilgamesh' and claims to refute, with "careful
analysis of the repetition of thematic patterns", that the Patroclus
storyline upsets Homer's established compositional formulae of "wrath,
bride-stealing, and rescue"; thus, stock-phrase 'reiteration' does not
restrict his originality in fitting story to rhyme. Likewise, James
Armstrong (1958) reports that the poem's 'formulae' yield richer
meaning because the "arming motif" 'diction' - describing Achilles,
Agamemnon, Paris, and Patroclus - serves to "heighten the importance
of [...] an impressive moment"; thus, "[reiteration] creates an
atmosphere of smoothness" wherein Homer distinguishes Patroclus from
Achilles and foreshadows the former's death with positive and negative
turns of phrase.

In the 'Iliad', occasional syntactic inconsistency may be an oral
tradition effect--for example, Aphrodite is "laughter-loving" despite
being painfully wounded by Diomedes (Book V, 375); and the divine
representations may mix Mycenaean and Greek Dark Age () mythologies,
parallelling the hereditary  nobles (lower social rank rulers) with
minor deities, such as Scamander, et al.


Depiction of infantry combat
==============================
Despite Mycenae and Troy being maritime powers, the 'Iliad' features
no sea battles. The Trojan shipwright (of the ship that transported
Helen to Troy), Phereclus, instead fights afoot, as an infantryman.
The battle dress and armour of hero and soldier are well-described.
They enter battle in chariots, launching javelins into the enemy
formations, and then dismount - for hand-to-hand combat with yet more
javelin throwing, rock throwing, and if necessary, hand-to-hand sword
and shoulder-borne  (shield) fighting. Ajax the Greater, son of
Telamon, sports a large, rectangular shield () with which he protects
himself and Teucer, his brother:



Ajax's cumbersome shield is more suitable for defence than for
offence, while his cousin Achilles sports a large, rounded, octagonal
shield that he successfully deploys along with his spear against the
Trojans:



In describing infantry combat, Homer names the phalanx formation, but
most scholars do not believe the historical Trojan War was so fought.
In the Bronze Age, the chariot was the main battle transport-weapon
(e.g. the Battle of Kadesh). The available evidence, from the Dendra
armour and the Pylos Palace paintings, indicate the Mycenaeans used
two-man chariots, with a long-spear-armed principal rider, unlike the
three-man Hittite chariots with short-spear-armed riders and the
arrow-armed Egyptian and Assyrian two-man chariots. Nestor spearheads
his troops with chariots; he advises them:



Although Homer's depictions are graphic, it can be seen in the very
end that victory in war is a far more somber occasion, where all that
is lost becomes apparent. On the other hand, the funeral games are
lively, for the dead man's life is celebrated. This overall depiction
of war runs contrary to many other ancient Greek depictions, where war
is an aspiration for greater glory.


Modern reconstructions of armour, weapons, and styles
=======================================================
Few modern (archeologically, historically, and Homerically accurate)
reconstructions of arms, armor, and motifs as described by Homer
exist. Some historical reconstructions have been done by Salimbeti et
al.


Influence on classical Greek warfare
======================================
While the Homeric poems (particularly, the 'Iliad') were not
necessarily revered scripture of the ancient Greeks, they were most
certainly seen as guides that were important to the intellectual
understanding of any educated Greek citizen. This is evidenced by the
fact that in the late 5th century BC, "it was the sign of a man of
standing to be able to recite the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' by heart."
Moreover, it can be argued that the warfare shown in the 'Iliad', and
the way it is depicted, had a profound and very traceable effect on
Greek warfare in general. In particular, the effect of epic literature
can be broken down into three categories: tactics, ideology, and the
mindset of commanders. In order to discern these effects, it is
necessary to take a look at a few examples from each of these
categories.

Much of the detailed fighting in the 'Iliad' is done by the heroes in
an orderly, one-on-one fashion. Much like the 'Odyssey', there is even
a set ritual that must be observed in each of these conflicts. For
example, a major hero may encounter a lesser hero from the opposing
side, in which case the minor hero is introduced, threats may be
exchanged, and then the minor hero is slain. The victor often strips
the body of its armor and military accoutrements. Here is an example
of this ritual and this type of one-on-one combat in the 'Iliad':



The most important question in reconciling the connection between the
epic fighting of the 'Iliad' and later Greek warfare concerns the
phalanx, or hoplite, warfare seen in Greek history well after Homer's
'Iliad'. While there are discussions of soldiers arrayed in semblances
of the phalanx throughout the 'Iliad', the focus of the poem on the
heroic fighting, as mentioned above, would seem to contradict the
tactics of the phalanx. However, the phalanx did have its heroic
aspects. The masculine one-on-one fighting of the epic is manifested
in phalanx fighting with the emphasis on holding one's position in
formation. This replaces the singular heroic competition found in the
'Iliad'.

One example of this is the Spartan tale of 300 picked men fighting
against 300 picked Argives. In this battle of champions, only two men
are left standing for the Argives and one for the Spartans. Othryades,
the remaining Spartan, goes back to stand in his formation with mortal
wounds while the remaining two Argives go back to Argos to report
their victory. Thus, the Spartans claimed this as a victory, as their
last man displayed the ultimate feat of bravery by maintaining his
position in the phalanx.

In terms of the ideology of commanders in later Greek history, the
'Iliad' has an interesting effect. The 'Iliad' expresses a definite
disdain for tactical trickery when Hector says, before he challenges
the great Ajax:



However, despite examples of disdain for this tactical trickery, there
is reason to believe that the 'Iliad', as well as later Greek warfare,
endorses tactical genius on the part of its commanders. For example,
there are multiple passages in the 'Iliad' with commanders such as
Agamemnon or Nestor discussing the arraying of troops so as to gain an
advantage. Indeed, the Trojan War is won by a notorious example of
Achaean guile in the Trojan Horse. This is even later referred to by
Homer in the 'Odyssey'. The connection, in this case, between the
guileful tactics of the Achaeans and the Trojans in the 'Iliad' and
those of the later Greeks is not a difficult one to find. Spartan
commanders, often seen as the pinnacle of Greek military prowess, were
known for their tactical trickery, and for them, this was a feat to be
desired in a commander. Indeed, this type of leadership was the
standard advice of Greek tactical writers.

Ultimately, while Homeric (or epic) fighting is certainly not
completely replicated in later Greek warfare, many of its ideals,
tactics, and instructions are.

Hans van Wees argues that the descriptions of warfare related in the
epic can be pinned down fairly specifically - to the first half of the
7th century BC.


                   Influence on arts and culture
======================================================================
The 'Iliad' was a standard work of great importance already in
Classical Greece and remained so throughout the Hellenistic and
Byzantine periods. Subjects from the Trojan War were a favourite among
ancient Greek dramatists. Aeschylus' trilogy, the 'Oresteia',
comprising 'Agamemnon', 'The Libation Bearers', and 'The Eumenides',
follows the story of Agamemnon after his return from the war. Homer
also came to be of great influence in European culture with the
resurgence of interest in Greek antiquity during the Renaissance, and
it remains the first and most influential work of the Western canon.
In its full form, the text made its return to Italy and Western Europe
beginning in the 15th century, primarily through translations into
Latin and the vernacular languages.

Prior to this reintroduction, however, a shortened Latin version of
the poem, known as the , was very widely studied and read as a basic
school text. Publius Baebius Italicus, a Roman Senator, is credited
with a translation of the 'Iliad' in the decade 60-70 AD. The work is
known as Homerus Latinus and was formerly attributed to Pindarus
Thebaeus. The West tended to view Homer as unreliable, as they
believed they possessed much more down-to-earth and realistic
eyewitness accounts of the Trojan War written by Dares and Dictys
Cretensis, who were supposedly present at the events. These late
antique forged accounts formed the basis of several eminently popular
medieval chivalric romances, most notably those of Benoît de
Sainte-Maure and Guido delle Colonne.

These in turn spawned many others in various European languages, such
as the first printed English book, the 1473 'Recuyell of the Historyes
of Troye'. Other accounts read in the Middle Ages were antique Latin
retellings such as the  and works in the vernaculars such as the
Icelandic Troy Saga. Even without Homer, the Trojan War story had
remained central to Western European medieval literary culture and its
sense of identity. Most nations and several royal houses traced their
origins to heroes at the Trojan War; Britain was supposedly settled by
the Trojan Brutus, for instance.

William Shakespeare used the plot of the 'Iliad' as source material
for his play 'Troilus and Cressida' but focused on a medieval legend,
the love story of Troilus, son of King Priam of Troy, and Cressida,
daughter of the Trojan soothsayer Calchas. The play, often considered
to be a comedy, reverses traditional views on events of the Trojan War
and depicts Achilles as a coward, Ajax as a dull, unthinking
mercenary, etc.

William Theed the elder made a bronze statue of Thetis as she brings
Achilles his new armor forged by Hephaestus. It has been on display in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 2013.

Robert Browning's poem 'Development' discusses his childhood
introduction to the matter of the 'Iliad' and his delight in the epic,
as well as contemporary debates about its authorship.

According to Suleyman al-Boustani, a 19th-century poet who made the
first Arabic translation of the Iliad to Arabic, the epic may have
been widely circulated in Syriac and Pahlavi translations during the
early Middle Ages. Al-Boustani credits Theophilus of Edessa with the
Syriac translation, which was supposedly (along with the Greek
original) widely read or heard by the scholars of Baghdad in the prime
of the Abbasid Caliphate, although those scholars never took the
effort to translate it to the official language of the empire: Arabic.
The 'Iliad' was also the first full epic poem to be translated into
Arabic from a foreign language, upon the publication of Al-Boustani's
complete work in 1904.


20th-century arts
===================
* Lesya Ukrainka wrote the dramatic poem "Cassandra" in 1901-1907
based on the 'Iliad'. It describes the story of Cassandra, a
prophetess.
* "The fall of Troy" (1911), an Italian silent film by Giovanni
Pastrone, the first known movie adaptation of Homer's epic poem.
* "Achilles in the Trench" is one of the best-known of the war poems
of the First World War and was written by Patrick Shaw-Stewart while
waiting to be sent to fight at Gallipoli.
* Simone Weil wrote the essay "The Iliad or the Poem of Force" in
1939, shortly after the commencement of World War II. The essay
describes how the 'Iliad' demonstrates the way force, exercised to the
extreme in war, reduces both victim and aggressor to the level of the
slave and the unthinking automaton.
* The 1954 Broadway musical 'The Golden Apple', by librettist John
Treville Latouche and composer Jerome Moross, was freely adapted from
the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey', resetting the action to America's
Washington state in the years after the Spanish-American War, with
events inspired by the 'Iliad' in Act One and events inspired by the
'Odyssey' in Act Two.
* Christopher Logue's poem 'War Music', an "account", not a
translation, of the 'Iliad', was begun in 1959 as a commission for
radio. He continued working on it until his death in 2011. Described
by Tom Holland as "one of the most remarkable works of post-war
literature", it has been an influence on Kae Tempest and Alice Oswald,
who says that it "unleashes a forgotten kind of theatrical energy into
the world".
* The opera 'King Priam' by Sir Michael Tippett (which received its
premiere in 1962) is based loosely on the 'Iliad'.
* Christa Wolf's novel 'Cassandra' (1983) is a critical engagement
with the 'Iliad'. Wolf's narrator is Cassandra, whose thoughts are
heard at the moment just before her murder by Clytemnestra in Sparta.
Wolf's narrator presents a feminist's view of the war, and of war in
general. Cassandra's story is accompanied by four essays that Wolf
delivered at the 1982 . The essays present Wolf's concerns as a writer
and rewriter of this canonical story and show the genesis of the novel
through Wolf's own readings and a trip she took to Greece.
* David Melnick's 'Men in Aida' ( ) (1983) is a postmodern homophonic
translation of Book One into a farcical bathhouse scenario, preserving
the sounds but not the meaning of the original.
* Marion Zimmer Bradley's 1987 novel 'The Firebrand' retells the story
from the point of view of Kassandra, a princess of Troy and a
prophetess who is cursed by Apollo.


Contemporary popular culture
==============================
* Eric Shanower's Image Comics series 'Age of Bronze', which began in
1998, retells the legend of the Trojan War.
* Dan Simmons's epic science fiction adaptation/tribute 'Ilium' was
released in 2003, receiving a Locus Award for best science fiction
novel of 2003.
* 'Troy' (2004), a loose film adaptation of the 'Iliad', received
mixed reviews but was a commercial success, particularly in
international sales. It grossed $133million in the United States and
$497million worldwide, making it the 188th top-grossing movie of all
time.
* 'The Rage of Achilles' (2009), by American author and Yale Writers'
Conference founder Terence Hawkins, recounts the 'Iliad' as a novel in
modern, sometimes graphic language. Informed by Julian Jaynes's theory
of the bicameral mind and the historicity of the Trojan War, it
depicts its characters as real men to whom the gods appear only as
hallucinations or command voices during the sudden and painful
transition to truly modern consciousness.
* Alice Oswald's sixth collection, 'Memorial' (2011), is based on but
departs from the narrative form of the 'Iliad' to focus on, and so
commemorate, the individually named characters whose deaths are
mentioned in that poem. In October 2011, 'Memorial' was short-listed
for the T. S. Eliot Prize, but in December 2011, Oswald withdrew the
book from the shortlist, citing concerns about the ethics of the
prize's sponsors.
* Madeline Miller's 2011 debut novel, 'The Song of Achilles', tells
the story of Achilles and Patroclus's life together as children,
lovers, and soldiers. The novel, which won the 2012 Women's Prize for
Fiction, draws on the 'Iliad' as well as the works of other classical
authors such as Statius, Ovid, and Virgil.
* 'For the Most Beautiful', written by classicist and historian Emily
Hauser in 2016, narrates the lives of Chryseis and Briseis in their
own words.
* Natalie Haynes's 2019 novel 'A Thousand Ships' narrates the
consequences of the Fall of Troy through the eyes and words of the
women involved. It was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
2020.
* As part of his continuing literary interest in classical myths,
Stephen Fry published 'Troy' in 2020. The book has become popular as a
more accessible way to read the Greek myths.
* Pat Barker's published 'The Silence of the Girls' and 'The Women of
Troy' in 2018 and 2021 respectively. Retelling the silenced voices of
women in the 'Iliad', both books were critically acclaimed, with 'The
Silence of the Girls' being named one of "The Guardian Best Books of
the 21st Century".


Sciences
==========
* Psychiatrist Jonathan Shay wrote two books, 'Achilles in Vietnam:
Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character' (1994) and 'Odysseus in
America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming' (2002), which
relate the 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' to posttraumatic stress disorder
and moral injury as seen in the rehabilitation histories of combat
veteran patients.
* Psychologist-neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas analyzed the 'Iliad'
using concepts from psychoanalysis and cultural anthropology (animism,
totemism).


                        English translations
======================================================================
George Chapman published his translation of the 'Iliad', in
installments beginning in 1598, published in "fourteeners", a
long-line ballad metre that "has room for all of Homer's figures of
speech and plenty of new ones, as well as explanations in parentheses.
At its best, as in Achilles' rejection of the embassy in 'Iliad' Nine;
it has great rhetorical power." It quickly established itself as a
classic in English poetry. In the preface to his own translation, Pope
praises "the daring fiery spirit" of Chapman's rendering, which is
"something like what one might imagine Homer, himself, would have writ
before he arrived at years of discretion".

John Keats praised Chapman in the sonnet 'On First Looking into
Chapman's Homer' (1816). John Ogilby's mid-17th-century translation is
among the early annotated editions; Alexander Pope's 1715 translation,
in heroic couplet, is "the classic translation that was built on all
the preceding versions" and like Chapman's, is a major poetic work in
its own right. William Cowper's Miltonic, blank verse 1791 edition is
highly regarded for its greater fidelity to the Greek than either the
Chapman or the Pope versions: "I have omitted nothing; I have invented
nothing", Cowper says in prefacing his translation.

In the lectures 'On Translating Homer' (1861), Matthew Arnold
addresses the matters of translation and interpretation in rendering
the 'Iliad' to English; commenting upon the versions contemporarily
available in 1861, he identifies the four essential poetic qualities
of Homer to which the translator must do justice:


[i] that he is eminently rapid; [ii] that he is eminently plain and
direct, both in the evolution of his thought and in the expression of
it, that is, both in his syntax and in his words; [iii] that he is
eminently plain and direct in the substance of his thought, that is,
in his matter and ideas; and, finally, [iv] that he is eminently
noble.


After a discussion of the metres employed by previous translators,
Arnold argues for a poetical dialect hexameter translation of the
'Iliad', like the original. "Laborious as this meter was, there were
at least half a dozen attempts to translate the entire 'Iliad' or
'Odyssey' in hexameters; the last in 1945. Perhaps the most fluent of
them was by J. Henry Dart [1862] in response to Arnold." In 1870, the
American poet William Cullen Bryant published a blank verse version,
that Van Wyck Brooks describes as "simple, faithful".

An 1898 translation by Samuel Butler was published by Longmans. Butler
had read Classics at Cambridge University, graduating in 1859.

Since 1950, there have been several English translations: Richmond
Lattimore's version (1951) is "a free six-beat" line-for-line
rendering in often unidiomatic, often archaic English. Robert
Fitzgerald's version (Oxford World's Classics, 1974) uses shorter,
mostly iambic lines and numerous allusions to earlier English poetry.

Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics, 1990) and Stanley Lombardo (1997) are
bolder than Lattimore in adding more contemporary American-English
idioms to convey Homer's conventional and formulaic language. Rodney
Merrill's translation (University of Michigan Press, 2007) renders the
work in English verse like the dactylic hexameter of the original.

Peter Green translated the Iliad in 2015, a version published by the
University of California Press.

Caroline Alexander published the first full-length English translation
by a woman in 2015.
Wolff, Karl; "[http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/iliad-new
The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander]", 'New York
Journal of Books'.

Emily Wilson's 2023 translation uses unrhymed iambic pentameters.


                            Manuscripts
======================================================================
There are more than 2000 manuscripts of Homer. Some of the most
notable manuscripts include:
* Rom. Bibl. Nat. gr. 6 + Matriti. Bibl. Nat. 4626 from 870 to 890
* Venetus A = Venetus Marc, 822 from the 10th century
* Venetus B = Venetus Marc, 821 from the 11th century
* Ambrosian Iliad
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 20
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 21
* Codex Nitriensis (palimpsest)


                              See also
======================================================================
* Mask of Agamemnon
* Parallels between Virgil's 'Aeneid' and Homer's 'Iliad' and
'Odyssey'
* Heinrich Schliemann
* English translations of Homer


                          Further reading
======================================================================
*
* De Jong, Irene (2012), 'Iliad - Book XXII', Cambridge University
Press,
* Edwards, Mark W.; Geoffrey Kirk,
[https://books.google.com/books?id=-sKGGd1JuqoC The Iliad - A
Commentary: Volume V, Books 17-20], Cambridge University Press, 1991,
* Edwards, Mark W.; Richard Janko; Geoffrey Kirk,
[https://books.google.com/books?id=JojMmQEACAAJ The Iliad - A
Commentary: Volume IV, Books 13-16], Cambridge University Press, 1992,
*
* Barbara Graziosi, Haubold, Johannes; 'Iliad - Book VI', Cambridge
University Press, 2010,
*
* Geoffrey Kirk, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TguHR9k8DQ8C The
Iliad - A Commentary: Volume I, Books 1-4], Cambridge University
Press, 1985,
* Geoffrey Kirk, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4ZdxbCe84z0C The
Iliad - A Commentary: Volume II, Books 5-8], Cambridge University
Press, 1990,
* Hainsworth, Bryan; Geoffrey Kirk,
[https://books.google.com/books?id=URaInQEACAAJ The Iliad - A
Commentary: Volume III, Books 9-12], Cambridge University Press, 1993,
]
* Murray, A. T.; Wyatt, William F., 'Homer - The Iliad, Books I-XII',
Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1999,
*
*
*
*
* Nicholas Richardson, Geoffrey Kirk, The Iliad - A Commentary: Volume
VI, Books 21-24, Cambridge University Press, 1993,
*
* Judith Thurman,
[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/18/emily-wilson-profile
"Mother Tongue: How Emily Wilson makes Homer modern"], The New Yorker,
18 September 2023, pp.46-53, Long-form article on Emily Wilson's Homer
translations.
*
* Martin Litchfield West,
[https://books.google.com/books?id=ABWYSMNWjlIC Studies in the text
and transmission of the Iliad], Munich, K. G. Saur Verlag, 2001,


                           External links
======================================================================
*
*
* Multiple translations of the Iliad at Project Gutenberg:
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51355 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
George Chapman, at Project Gutenberg
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6130 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
Alexander Pope, at Project Gutenberg
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16452 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
William Cowper, at Project Gutenberg
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22382 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
Theodore Alois Buckley, at Project Gutenberg
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6150 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
Edward, Earl of Derby, at Project Gutenberg
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3059 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
Andrew Lang, Walter Leaf and Ernest Meyers, at Project Gutenberg
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2199 'The Iliad of Homer'], by
Samuel Butler, at Project Gutenberg
* 'Iliad' :
[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+1.1 from
the Perseus Project] (PP), with the Murray and Butler translations and
hyperlinks to mythological and grammatical commentary
* [https://bitbucket.org/ben-crowell/ransom/src/master/README.md
'Iliad']: the Greek text presented with the translation by Buckley and
vocabulary, notes, and analysis of difficult grammatical forms
* [http://moebio.com/iliad/ 'Gods, Achaeans and Troyans']. An
interactive visualization of 'The Iliad's' characters flow and
relations
* [http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/TheIliad.html#Iliad 'The Iliad'
- A Study Guide]
*
[https://web.archive.org/web/20210520042345/http://www.iliadtranslation.com/The-Iliad-About.html
Comments on background, plot, themes, authorship, and translation
issues] by 2008 translator Herbert Jordan
* [http://www.mccunecollection.org/Iliad%20of%20Homer.html Flaxman
illustrations of the 'Iliad']
* [http://www.shmoop.com/iliad/ The 'Iliad']  study guide, themes,
quotes, teacher resources
*
[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0005/bsb00050607/images/index.html?fip=193.174.98.30&id=00050607&seite=1
Digital facsimile of the first printed publication ('editio princeps')
of the 'Iliad' in Homeric Greek by Demetrios Chalkokondyles,
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek]


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