The Iliad, according to Michael N. Nagler, is a more difficult epic poem than the Odyssey. Book numbers are in parenthesis and appear before the book summary. (1) Following an invocation to the Muses, the narrative begins in the middle of the Trojan War, between the Trojans and the besieging Greeks. (2/3) Achilles refuses to fight until he has won glory by killing Hector, who is now his friend. He goes to the tent of Achilles, where many great heroes are staying, and challenges him to a duel. But when Achilles enters the field neither can wound the other. They wrestle only to loosen their armor, and then join forces against the Greek army.
Achilles leads the charge against the Trojans. His spear throws them into confusion, and he kills several enemy soldiers. After this victory, he asks Patroclus, another of his friends, to kill him so that he can go home to Greece. But Patroclus refuses, saying that they are friends now. They fight but Achilles is defeated; he has lost one foot to Patroclus. Furious, he leaves the battlefield to return home alone. (4) Meanwhile, Odysseus has led the Greek fleet to safety at Troy's distant shore. He sails back to find out what has happened to Achilles. When he reaches the battlefield, he sees Patroclus dead and falls into deep mourning.
Homer's epic poem The Iliad was composed in Greek. It depicts the final year of the Trojan War, which was fought between the city of Troy and the Greeks. The Iliad is made up of 24 books or "strophes" (lines) of poetry. Each book has three hundred and sixty-five or more lines of dialogue-free narrative.
In order to win back Helen, Paris' wife, who had been taken by Menelaus, king of Sparta, the leader of the Greek forces, Agamemnon, decides to send a team to Troy to steal Helen away from Menelaus. The mission is commanded by Achilles, whose soul lives on in Hades. Before they leave, the soldiers compete against one another at throwing the spear and wrestling to see who will be best able to protect Greece's interests while they're away. When the army marches out of town, Hector, son of Zeus and queen Hecuba, leads the Trojans in battle against them. The Iliad tells how these two great armies met many times during the year before the war ended when Apollo, sent as a messenger by his mother Leto, persuaded both sides to stop fighting and make peace with each other.
The Odyssey, like its sibling work, The Iliad, is an epic poem, which means it tells the lofty account of a warrior-like hero's voyage and interactions with the gods in a formal poetic style. However, while The Iliad focuses on the main character, Achilles, who is described as being the son of Zeus and Hera, The Odyssey expands this role out to include all of the major characters in the story. It also covers a much longer period of time than its sister work, covering some twenty years from the death of Odysseus' father, Laertes, to his own return to Ithaca.
Odysseus is the central figure in The Odyssey. He is a great king who leads his people against Poseidon, the god of the sea. However, after losing an important battle against him, Odysseus decides to escape by hiding under the shadow of a large wooden horse. When the Trojans bring this horse into their camp, believing it to be a gift from the gods, Odysseus attacks them with his sword and kills several men. After this attack, he realizes that they have been tricked by Zeus and allows himself to be captured. But when Troy is about to be destroyed by Apollo's sunburned warriors, Odysseus manages to escape back to Greece with the help of Athena, the goddess of war.
After The Iliad and The Odyssey, dactylic hexameter, epithets, and epic similes established epic poetry traditions. These poems are important examples of early modern European literature.
In terms of size the Odyssey is one of the longest poems in English language: it contains 24 lines to each stanza (or page) of iambic pentameter. By comparison, The Iliad has 23 pages of iambic pentameter and 21 lines to each verse (or stanza).
Both poems deal with famous battles between Greek heroes and include extensive descriptions of war scenes and battle strategies. But besides these common features, there is no other connection between The Odyssey and The Iliad. They are two separate works that only share a title because they were written by the same poet (whom we call Homer). The Odyssey was probably composed sometime after The Iliad but before about 450 B.C., while the reverse is more likely true today. Also, both poems describe battles between Greeks and Troyians (an ancient city-state that later became part of Turkey).
The major characters Greeks. Achilles is the main character and the world's finest warrior. He is loved by his fellow soldiers because he fights bravely for them. But when Agamemnon, the king of Argos (now part of Greece), asks him to fight instead of him, he refuses. This causes a rift between him and everyone else at the camp, including Patroclus, his friend and servant.
In ancient Greece, people believed that gods had a role in controlling human events. They also believed that heroes could be called upon to fight in certain battles or wars. By calling upon a hero, you were asking him to protect you or your country. In exchange, the hero wanted gold or other valuable gifts. So for example, Achilles wants to be given a golden sword so that he can kill Hector, who is fighting for Troy.
The Iliad is made up of 18 books, and it takes about six hours to read from start to finish. Although not all of it is about war and heroism, these are the themes that dominate the story.
Greek writers such as Homer used history and legend as sources of inspiration for their poems.
The Iliad is an epic poem written by the Greek poet Homer. It tells the story of the last year of the Trojan War, fought between the city of Troy and the Greeks. Achilles: Achilles is the main character and the greatest warrior in the world. She is taken by the Trojans and is the cause of the Trojan War. When Hector dies fighting for his country, Achilles refuses to kill him because he believes that he has already lost a friend. Therefore, he decides not to fight anymore.
He is followed by Patroclus, who becomes his charioteer. They are both summoned by Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, who wants to make peace with Troy. But the war continues because of the anger of Achilles' mother Thetis. She wants revenge for her son who has been killed by Paris, who has chosen Helen, wife of King Priam of Troy, as his lover. The gods agree on a trial by battle to determine who will win the love of the woman.
They are all night in the temple of Apollo where Thetis asks the god for help. First, she wishes that she could give birth to a child as beautiful as Apollo. Then, she asks that Achilles be given a gift that will make him want to fight even after seeing his friends killed around him. Apollo agrees to help her and turns Achilles into a monster who cannot be killed by normal weapons. When dawn comes, Achilles has vanished.
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