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{{Short description|Epic poem attributed to Homer}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox poem
| name              = Iliad
| image             = Detail. Wooden board inscribed in ink with lines 468-473, Book I of Homer's Iliad. Roman Egypt. On display at the British Museum.jpg
| image_size        = 250px
| caption           = Inscription of lines 468–473, Book I. Dated 400{{nbnd}}500{{nbsp}}AD, from Egypt, on display at the [[British Museum]]
| author            = [[Homer]]
| original_title    = Ἰλιάς
| original_title_lang = grc
| translator        = [[George Chapman]] and others; see [[English translations of Homer]]
| written           = {{circa|8th century BC}}
| country           = [[Ancient Greece]]
| language          = [[Homeric Greek]]
| subject           = [[Trojan War]]
| genre             = [[Epic poetry]]
| metre             = [[Dactylic hexameter]]
| publication_date_en = {{start date and age|1598}}
| lines             = 15,693
| followed_by       = The ''[[Odyssey]]''
| orig_lang_code    = el
| native_wikisource = Ιλιάς
| wikisource        = Iliad
}}

{{Trojan War}}

The '''''Iliad''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|l|i|ə|d|audio=en-us-Iliad.oga}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Iliad "Iliad"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{langx|grc|Ἰλιάς|Iliás}}, {{IPA|grc-x-attic|iː.li.ás|}}; {{lit|[a poem] about [[Troy|Ilion (Troy)]]}}) is one of two major Ancient Greek [[epic poem]]s 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 [[Western literature|European literature]] and is a central part of the [[Epic Cycle]].<ref>Fantuzzi, et al., ''The Greek Epic Cycle and Its Ancient Reception - A Companion'', 2015.</ref>

Set towards the end of the [[Trojan War]], a ten-year siege of the city of [[Troy]] by a coalition of [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek]] states, the poem depicts significant events in the war's final weeks. In particular, it traces the anger ({{lang|grc|μῆνις}}) of [[Achilles]], a celebrated warrior, from a fierce quarrel between him and King [[Agamemnon]], to the death of the Trojan prince [[Hector]].<ref name="Homer. 1924">Homer, ''Iliad, Volume I, Books 1–12'', translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Loeb Classical Library 170, Cambridge, MA, [[Harvard University Press]], 1924.</ref><ref name="Homer. 1925">Homer, ''Iliad, Volume II - Books 13–24'', translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt, Loeb Classical Library 171, Cambridge, MA, [[Harvard University Press]], 1925.</ref> 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 [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]],{{sfn|Dunn|2020}} although the poem's composition has been [[Homeric Question|extensively debated]] in contemporary [[Homeric scholarship|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.{{sfn|Fowler|2004a|pp=220–232}} The poem was performed by professional reciters of Homer known as [[rhapsodes]] at Greek festivals such as the [[Panathenaea|Panathenaia]].<ref>Plato, ''Ion'', translated by Harold North Fowler, W. R. M. Lamb, [[Loeb Classical Library]], 164, Cambridge, MA, [[Harvard University Press]], 1925.</ref>{{sfn|Ready|Tsagalis|2018}}

Critical themes in the poem include ''[[kleos]]'' (glory), pride, fate, and wrath.{{sfn|Hammond|1987|pp=i–xxxiv}} Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the poem also contains instances of comedy and laughter.<ref name="Bell">Bell, Robert H.; "Homer's humor - laughter in the Iliad", hand 1 (2007), 596.</ref> The poem is frequently described as a "heroic" epic, centred around issues such as war, violence, and the [[hero|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 [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian gods]] play a major role in the poem, aiding their favoured warriors on the battlefield and intervening in personal disputes.<ref name="Kearns, E. 2004 pp. 59">Kearns, E. (2004), "The Gods in the Homeric epics", in R. Fowler (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to Homer'', Cambridge, [[Cambridge University Press]] (Cambridge Companions to Literature), pp. 59–73.</ref> Their anthropomorphic characterisation in the poem humanised them for Ancient Greek audiences, giving a concrete sense of their [[Ancient Greek religion|cultural and religious tradition]]. In terms of formal style, the poem's formulae, use of similes, and [[epithet]]s are often explored by scholars.{{sfn|Fowler|2004b|pp=115–168}}

== Synopsis ==
[[File:Beginning Iliad.svg|thumb|upright=1.40|The first verses of the ''Iliad'']]

=== Exposition (Books 1–4) ===
Source:<ref name="Homer. 1924"/>

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 (Homer)|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 (priest of Apollo)|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 [[Homeric prayer|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 [[Myrmidons|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.<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |translator-last=Wilson |translator-first=Emily |title=The Iliad |page=115 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2023|reason=Year? Editor?}}</ref> Achilles asks his mother to [[Supplication|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 (mythology)|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 of Troy|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:<ref name="Homer. 1924"/>

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 (soldier)|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 the Great|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:<ref name="Homer. 1924"/><ref name="Homer. 1925"/>
[[File:Iliad VIII 245-253 in cod F205, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, late 5c or early 6c.jpg|thumb|upright=1.20|''Iliad'', Book VIII, lines 245–253, [[Ambrosian Iliad|Greek manuscript]], late 5th, early 6th centuries AD]]

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 (son of Amyntor)|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 (mythology)|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 (mythology)|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 of Crete|Idomeneus]] with godly power. Many fall on both sides. The Trojan seer [[Polydamas (Iliad)|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:<ref name="Homer. 1925"/>
[[File:Achilles weapons MNA Naples.jpg|thumb|upright=1.10|[[Thetis]] at [[Hephaestus]]'s forge waiting to receive Achilles's new weapons, fresco from [[Pompeii]], 1st century]]

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 (Trojan War hero)|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 of Pylos|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 [[Shield of Achilles|magnificently wrought shield]].<ref>Auden, W. H., and Alan Jacobs, ''The Shield of Achilles'', 2024.</ref>

=== The Rage of Achilles (Books 19–24) ===
Source:<ref name="Homer. 1925"/>
[[File:Achilles' Sacrifice of Trojan Prisoners.jpg|thumb|upright=1.40|A detail of fresco from the [[François Tomb]] at [[Vulci]], showing the sacrifice of Trojan slaves. From left to right: [[Agamemnon]], ghost of [[Patroclus]], [[Vanth]], [[Achilles]] beheading a slave, [[Charun]], [[Ajax the Great]], a slave, [[Ajax the Lesser]]. 350–330 BC]]

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, [[Balius and Xanthus|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 [[Achilles and Patroclus|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.

== Themes ==
=== Religion ===
{{Main|Deception of Zeus}}
[[File:Hypnos Thanatos BM Vase D56 full.jpg|thumb|[[Hypnos]] and [[Thanatos]] carrying the body of [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]] from the battlefield of [[Troy]]; detail from an Attic [[white-ground]] [[lekythos]], {{circa|440 BC}}]]

[[Ancient Greek religion]] had no strict organisation, rather arising out of the diverse beliefs of the Greek people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawson |first=John Cuthbert |url=https://archive.org/details/moderngreekfolkl00laws/page/2/mode/2up |title=Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1910 |pages=2–3}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Greek religion |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion |date=2 March 2020 |orig-date=1998 |last2=Pollard |first2=John Richard Thornhill |first1=A. W. H. |last1=Adkins}}</ref> They perceived the world and its changes a result of divine intervention or presence. Often, they found these events to be mysterious and inexplicable.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Mikalson |first=Jon |title=Honor Thy Gods - Popular Religion in Greek Tragedy |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |date=1991}}</ref>

In the ''Iliad'', the [[Twelve Olympians|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.<ref name="Kearns, E. 2004 pp. 59"/> 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.<ref name=":2" /> The historian [[Herodotus]] says that Homer and [[Hesiod]], his contemporary, were the first writers to name and describe the gods' appearance and character.<ref>[http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/homer.htm Homer's Iliad], Classical Technology Center.</ref>

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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Kullmann |first=Wolfgang |date=1985 |title=Gods and Men in the Iliad and the Odyssey |journal=[[Harvard Studies in Classical Philology]] |volume=89 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.2307/311265 |jstor=311265}}</ref> Book 24 offers a retrospective discussion of the cause of the war, attributing it to the anger of Hera and Athena:

{{poemquote|text=
And though this was pleasing to all the rest, it was not to Hera
or Poseidon or the flashing-eyed maiden,
but they persisted just as when sacred Ilios at first became hateful in their eyes
and Priam and his people, because of the folly of Alexander,
who had insulted those goddesses when they came to his farmstead
and praised her who furthered his grievous lustfulness.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 24.25–30<ref name="Homer. 1925"/>}}

Athena and Hera oppose [[Paris (mythology)|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".<ref name=":0" />

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."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Homer |title=The Iliad |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |date=1998 |page=589 |translator-last=Fagles |translator-first=Robert |translator-last2=Knox |translator-first2=Bernard}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />

[[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.<ref name=":3">Lefkowitz, Mary (2003), ''Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn From Myths'', New Haven, Connecticut, [[Yale University Press]].</ref> 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.<ref name=":3" /><ref>[[Oliver Taplin]] (2003), "Bring Back the Gods", ''[[The New York Times]]'', (14 December).</ref>

Psychologist [[Julian Jaynes]]<ref name=":4">Jaynes, Julian (1976), ''The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind'', p. 221</ref> uses the ''Iliad'' as a major piece of evidence for his theory of the [[Bicameral mentality|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,<ref name=":4" /> a form of reverse logic by which a conclusion determines the validity of evidence.

=== Fate ===
[[Destiny|Fate]] ({{Langx|grc|κήρ|translit=kēr|lit=fated death|label=none}}) 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.<ref>[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1375344 Fate as presented in Homer's "The Iliad"], [[Everything2]]</ref> Fate does not determine every action, incident, and occurrence, but it does determine the outcome of life. For example, Patroclus prophesies Hector's death:<ref>Dunkle, Roger (1986), [https://web.archive.org/web/20071205014548/http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/studyguide/homer.htm ILIAD], in ''The Classical Origins of Western Culture'', ''The Core Studies 1 Study Guide'', [[Brooklyn College]], archived from the [http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/studyguide/homer.htm original], 5 December 2007.</ref>

{{poemquote|text=
No, deadly destiny, with the son of Leto, has killed me,
and of men it was Euphorbos; you are only my third slayer.
And put away in your heart this other thing that I tell you.
You yourself are not one who shall live long, but now already
death and powerful destiny are standing beside you,
to go down under the hands of Aiakos' great son, Achilleus.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 16.849–854 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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:

{{poemquote|text=
Ah me, that it is destined that the dearest of men, Sarpedon,
must go down under the hands of Menoitios' son Patroclus.|source=Homer, ''The Iliad''. 16.433–434 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

About his dilemma, Hera asks Zeus:

{{poemquote|text=
Majesty, son of Kronos, what sort of thing have you spoken?
Do you wish to bring back a man who is mortal, one long since
doomed by his destiny, from ill-sounding death and release him?
Do it, then; but not all the rest of us gods shall approve you.|source=Homer, ''The Iliad'' 16.440–43 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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:

{{poemquote|text=
Father of the shining bolt, dark misted, what is this you said?
Do you wish to bring back a man who is mortal, one long since
doomed by his destiny, from ill-sounding death and release him?
Do it, then; but not all the rest of us gods shall approve you.|source=Homer, ''The Iliad'' 22.178–81 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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:

{{poemquote|text=
But come, let us ourselves get him away from death, for fear
the son of Kronos may be angered if now Achilleus
kills this man. It is destined that he shall be the survivor,
that the generation of Dardanos shall not die...|source=Homer, ''The Iliad'' 20.300–04 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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}} ===
{{transliteration|grc|[[Kleos]]}} ({{lang|grc|κλέος}}, "glory, fame") is the concept of glory earned in heroic battle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/nagy/threads/concept_of_hero.html |title=The Concept of the Hero in Greek Civilization |publisher=Athome.harvard.edu |access-date=18 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421140227/http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/nagy/threads/concept_of_hero.html |archive-date=21 April 2010}}</ref> It is a fluctuating quality that can be given or taken, increased or decreased. In particular, Achilles is deeply concerned about his ''kleos''.<ref>Dué, C., Lupack, S. and Lamberton, R. (2020), "Kleos", in C.O. Pache (ed.), ''The Cambridge Guide to Homer'', Cambridge, [[Cambridge University Press]], pp. 167–168.</ref> 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 ({{lang|grc|διχθαδίας κήρας}}, 9.411).<ref name="autogenerated1">Volk, Katharina, [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1215546 ΚΛΕΟΣ ΑΦΘΙΤΟΝ Revisited]", ''Classical Philology'', Vol. 97, No. 1 (January 2002), pp. 61–68.</ref>

The passage reads:
{{Verse translation|italicsoff=y|
{{lang|grc|μήτηρ γάρ τέ μέ φησι θεὰ Θέτις ἀργυρόπεζα (410)
διχθαδίας κῆρας φερέμεν θανάτοιο τέλος δέ.
εἰ μέν κ' αὖθι μένων Τρώων πόλιν ἀμφιμάχωμαι,
ὤλετο μέν μοι νόστος, ἀτὰρ κλέος ἄφθιτον ἔσται
εἰ δέ κεν οἴκαδ' ἵκωμι φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν,
ὤλετό μοι κλέος ἐσθλόν, ἐπὶ δηρὸν δέ μοι αἰὼν (415)
ἔσσεται, οὐδέ κέ μ' ὦκα τέλος θανάτοιο κιχείη.}}<ref>{{Iliad|en|9|410|416}}</ref>

|attr2=Translated by [[Richmond Lattimore]]|
For my mother [[Thetis]] the goddess of silver feet tells me
I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death. Either,
if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans,
my return home is gone, but my glory shall be everlasting;
but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers,
the excellence of my glory is gone, but there will be a long life
left for me, and my end in death will not come to me quickly.<ref>Homer, ''The Iliad'' {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.</ref>}}

In forgoing his {{transliteration|grc|nostos}}, he will earn the greater reward of {{transliteration|grc|kleos aphthiton}} ({{lang|grc|κλέος ἄφθιτον}}, "fame imperishable").<ref name="autogenerated1" /> In the poem, {{transliteration|grc|aphthiton}} ({{lang|grc|ἄφθιτον}}, "imperishable") occurs five other times,<ref>II.46, V.724, XIII.22, XIV.238, XVIII.370</ref> each occurrence denotes an object: Agamemnon's sceptre, the wheel of [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]]'s chariot, the house of Poseidon, the throne of Zeus, and the house of [[Hephaestus]]. Translator [[Richmond Lattimore|Lattimore]] renders {{transliteration|grc|kleos aphthiton}} as "forever immortal" and as "forever imperishable" – connoting Achilles's mortality by underscoring his greater reward in returning to battle Troy.

{{transliteration|grc|Kleos}} is often given visible representation by the prizes won in battle. When Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles, he takes away a portion of the {{transliteration|grc|kleos}} 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}} ===
{{transliteration|grc|[[Nostos]]}} ({{lang|grc|νόστος}}, "homecoming") occurs seven times in the poem,<ref>{{Iliad|en|2|155}}, {{Iliad|en|2|251}}, {{Iliad|en|9|413}}, {{Iliad|en|9|434}}, {{Iliad|en|9|622}}, {{Iliad|en|10|509}}, {{Iliad|en|16|82}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Frobish">{{cite journal |last=Frobish |first=T. S. |date=2003 |title=An Origin of a Theory - A Comparison of Ethos in the Homeric Iliad with That Found in Aristotle's Rhetoric |journal=Rhetoric |volume=22 |number=1 |pages=16–30 |doi=10.1207/S15327981RR2201_2 |s2cid=44483572}}</ref>

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.{{efn|1={{harvtxt|Frobish|2003|p=24}} writes that the war "starts with his pride and immaturity, yet is finished with his skill and bravery on the battlefield."<ref name="Frobish" />}}

=== 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 {{transliteration|grc|kleos}} is {{transliteration|grc|timē}} ({{lang|grc|τιμή}}, "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}} ===
{{transliteration|grc|Hybris}} ({{lang|grc|Ὕβρις}}) plays a part similar to {{transliteration|grc|timē}}. 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, {{transliteration|grc|hybris}} also plays a prominent role, serving as both kindling and fuel for many destructive events.<ref name="Thompson">Thompson, Diane P.; "Achilles' Wrath and the Plan of Zeus".{{full citation needed|date=October 2023}}</ref>

Agamemnon refuses to ransom Chryseis out of {{transliteration|grc|hybris}} 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, {{transliteration|grc|hybris}} fuels and stokes them both.<ref name="Thompson" />

=== {{transliteration|grc|Mēnis}} ===
[[File:Wrath of Achilles2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.20|''The Wrath of Achilles'' (1819), by [[Michel Martin Drolling]]]]

The poem's initial word, {{lang|grc|μῆνιν}} ({{transliteration|grc|mēnin}}; [[accusative|acc.]] {{lang|grc|μῆνις}}, {{transliteration|grc|mēnis}}, "wrath", "rage", "fury"), establishes the ''Iliad''{{'}}s principal theme: the "Wrath of Achilles".<ref>{{cite book |translator-last=Rouse |translator-first=W. H. D. |translator-link=W. H. D. Rouse |date=1938 |title=The Iliad |publisher=[[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|T. Nelsons & Sons]] |page=11}}</ref> 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".<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 1.13 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.</ref> 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".<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 1.122 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.</ref> To that, Agamemnon replies:

{{poemquote|text=
But here is my threat to you.
Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis.
I shall convey her back in my own ship, with my own
followers; but I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis,
your prize, I myself going to your shelter, that you may learn well
how much greater I am than you, and another man may shrink back
from likening himself to me and contending against me.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 1.181–187 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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:

{{poemquote|text=
So it was here that the lord of men Agamemnon angered me.
Still, we will let all this be a thing of the past, and for all our
sorrow beat down by force the anger deeply within us.
Now I shall go, to overtake that killer of a dear life,
Hektor; then I will accept my own death, at whatever
time Zeus wishes to bring it about, and the other immortals.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 18.111–116 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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 ===
[[File:Peter Paul Rubens - Achilles slays Hector.jpg|thumb|upright=1.20|''Achilles Slays Hector'', by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] (1630–1635)]]

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.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=C. H. |last1=Moore |title=Prophecy in the Ancient Epic |journal=[[Harvard Studies in Classical Philology]] |date=1921 |volume=32 |pages=99–175 |doi=10.2307/310716 |jstor=310716}}</ref>

== Date and textual history ==
{{Main|Homeric Question|Historicity of the Iliad}}
{{multiple image}}
[[File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Homer Reciting his Poems - T01974 - Tate.jpg|thumb|''[[Homer Reciting his Poems]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]], 1790]]

The poem dates to the [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] period of [[Classical antiquity]]. Scholarly consensus mostly places it in the late 8th<ref name="Nikoletseas, Michael M 2012">Nikoletseas, Michael M. The Iliad – Twenty Centuries of Translation: a Critical View, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-4699-5210-9}}</ref> century BC, although some favour a 7th-century date.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crielaard |first=Jan Paul |date=1995 |editor-last=Crielaard |editor-first=Jan Paul |title=Homer, History and Archaeology: Some Remarks on the Date of the Homeric World |url=https://www.academia.edu/31148054 |journal=Homeric Questions: Essays in Philology, Ancient History and Archaeology |publisher=J.C. Grieben |publication-place=Amsterdam |publication-date=1995 |pages=201–288 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Wees |first=Hans |date=2002 |title=Homer and Early Greece |url=https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cq/vol38/iss1/9/ |journal=[[Colby College|Colby Quarterly]] |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=94–117 |via=Digital Commons}}</ref> In any case, the {{lang|la|[[terminus post quem|terminus ante quem]]}} for the dating of the ''Iliad'' is 630 BC, as evidenced by reflection in art and literature.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=West |first=M. L. |author-link=Martin Litchfield West |date=1999 |title=The Invention of Homer |journal=[[The Classical Quarterly]] |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=364–382 |doi=10.1093/cq/49.2.364 |jstor=639863 |issn=0009-8388}}</ref>

Herodotus, having consulted the [[Oracle]] at [[Dodona]], placed Homer and Hesiod at approximately 400 years before his own time, which would place them at {{circa|850 BC}}.{{sfn|Herodotus (de Sélincourt)|1975|p=41}}

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 {{lang|grc|Ἰλιάς}} ({{transliteration|grc|Ilias}}; [[Genitive case|gen.]] {{lang|grc|Ἰλιάδος}}, ''Iliados'') is an [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|ellipsis]] of  "{{lang|grc|ἡ ποίησις Ἰλιάς}}, ''he poíesis Iliás''", meaning "the Ilian (Trojan) poem". {{lang|grc|Ἰλιάς}} (of Ilion/Troy) is the specifically feminine adjective form from {{lang|grc|Ἴλιον}} (Ilion/Troy).<!-- According to LSJ, Ἰλιάς is a feminine proper noun. And it is a feminine form of adjective Ἴλιος. --> The masculine adjective form would be {{lang|grc|Ἰλιακός}} or {{lang|grc|Ἴλιος}}.<ref>{{LSJ|*)ilia/s|Ἰλιάς}}, {{LSJ|*)iliako/s|Ἰλιακός}}, {{LSJ|*)/ilios|Ἴλιος|ref}}</ref> It is used by Herodotus.<ref>''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' 2.116</ref>

[[Venetus A]], copied in the 10th century AD, is the oldest fully extant manuscript of the ''Iliad''.<ref>Blackwell, Amy Hackney (2007); [https://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/06/iliad_scan Robot Scans Ancient Manuscript in 3-D], ''Wired'',</ref> 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 [[List of editiones principes in Greek|first edition]] of the ''Iliad'', {{lang|la|[[editio princeps]]}}, was edited by [[Demetrius Chalcondyles]] and published by Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas in [[Florence]] in 1489.<ref>{{cite web |title=Homerus, ''[Τὰ σωζόμενα]'' |publisher=[[The Hellenic Library of the Onassis Foundation]] |website=onassislibrary.gr |url=http://onassislibrary.gr/en/collection/items/39018_en/ |access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>''[[Columbia Encyclopedia|The Columbia Encyclopedia]]'' (5 ed.), 1994, p. 173.</ref>

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 [[hexameter|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.<ref>Porter, John; ''The Iliad as Oral Formulaic Poetry'', (8 May 2006), [[University of Saskatchewan]], retrieved 26 November 2007.</ref> In [[Yugoslavia]], Parry and his assistant, [[Albert Lord]] (1912–1991), studied the oral-formulaic composition of [[Serbian language|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 [[Sumer]]ian [[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.<ref>Lord, Albert (1960), ''The Singer of Tales'', Cambridge, [[Harvard University Press]], pp. 190, 195.</ref> Likewise, James Armstrong (1958)<ref name=":5" /> 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.<ref>''Iliad'', Book XVI, 130–154</ref><ref name=":5">Armstrong, James I (1958), "The Arming Motif in the Iliad", ''[[American Journal of Philology]]'', 79(4):337–354.</ref>

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 Greece|Mycenaean]] and [[Greek Dark Age]] ({{circa|1150–800 BC}}) mythologies, parallelling the hereditary {{transliteration|grc|basileis}} nobles (lower social rank rulers) with minor deities, such as [[Scamander]], et al.<ref>Toohey, Peter (1992), ''Reading Epic - An Introduction to the Ancient Narrative'', New Fetter Lane, London, [[Routledge]].</ref>

== Depiction of warfare ==
{{Main|Trojan Battle Order}}

=== Depiction of infantry combat ===
Despite Mycenae and Troy being maritime powers, the ''Iliad'' features no sea battles.<ref>{{Iliad|en|3|45|shortref}}–50</ref> The Trojan shipwright (of the ship that transported Helen to Troy), [[Phereclus]], instead fights afoot, as an infantryman.<ref>{{Iliad|5|59|shortref}}–65</ref> The battle dress and armour of hero and soldier are well-described. They enter battle in [[chariot]]s, 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 {{transliteration|grc|aspis}} (shield) fighting.<ref>[[John Keegan]] (1993), ''[[A History of Warfare]]'', p. 248.</ref> Ajax the Greater, son of Telamon, sports a large, rectangular shield ({{langx|grc|σάκος|sakos}}) with which he protects himself and Teucer, his brother:

{{poemquote|text=
Ninth came Teucer, stretching his curved bow.
He stood beneath the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon.
As Ajax cautiously pulled his shield aside,
Teucer would peer out quickly, shoot off an arrow,
hit someone in the crowd, dropping that soldier
right where he stood, ending his life – then he'd duck back,
crouching down by Ajax, like a child beside its mother.
Ajax would then conceal him with his shining shield.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 8.267–272, translated by Ian Johnston.}}

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:

{{poemquote|text=
Just as a man constructs a wall for some high house,
using well-fitted stones to keep out forceful winds,
that's how close their helmets and bossed shields lined up,
shield pressing against shield, helmet against helmet
man against man. On the bright ridges of the helmets,
horsehair plumes touched when warriors moved their heads.
That's how close they were to one another.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 16.213–217 (translated by Ian Johnston).}}

In describing infantry combat, Homer names the [[phalanx]] formation,<ref>{{Iliad|en|6|6|shortref}}</ref> but most scholars do not believe the historical Trojan War was so fought.<ref>Cahill, Tomas (2003), ''Sailing the Wine Dark Sea - Why the Greeks Matter''.</ref> 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:

{{poemquote|text=
In your eagerness to engage the Trojans,
don't any of you charge ahead of others,
trusting in your strength and horsemanship.
And don't lag behind. That will hurt our charge.
Any man whose chariot confronts an enemy's
should thrust with his spear at him from there.
That's the most effective tactic, the way
men wiped out city strongholds long ago –
their chests full of that style and spirit.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 4.301–309 (translated by Ian Johnston).}}

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{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/armour5.htm |title=The Greek Age of Bronze – Armour}}</ref>

=== 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."<ref name=":6">Lendon, J.E. (2005), ''Soldiers and Ghosts - A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity'', New Haven, CT, [[Yale University Press]].</ref>{{Rp|36}} 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: [[Military tactics|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.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|22–23}} Here is an example of this ritual and this type of one-on-one combat in the ''Iliad'':

{{poemquote|text=
There Telamonian Ajax struck down the son of Anthemion,
Simoeisios in his stripling's beauty, whom once his mother
descending from Ida bore beside the banks of Simoeis
when she had followed her father and mother to tend the
sheepflocks.

Therefore they called him Simoeisios; but he could not
render again the care of his dear parents; he was short-lived,
beaten down beneath the spear of high-hearted Ajax,
who struck him as he first came forward beside the nipple
of the right breast, and the bronze spearhead drove clean
through the shoulder.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 4.473–483 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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''.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|51}}

One example of this is the [[Sparta]]n [[Battle of the 300 Champions|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.<ref>{{Herodotus|en|1|82|ref}}</ref>

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:

{{poemquote|text=
I know how to storm my way into the struggle of flying horses; I know how to tread the measures on the grim floor of the war god. Yet great as you are I would not strike you by stealth, watching for my chance, but openly, so, if perhaps I might hit you.|source=Homer, ''Iliad'' 7.237–243 {{harv|Lattimore|1951}}.}}

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.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|240}}

Ultimately, while Homeric (or epic) fighting is certainly not completely replicated in later Greek warfare, many of its ideals, tactics, and instructions are.<ref name=":6" />

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.<ref>Van Wees, Hans; ''Greek Warfare - Myth and Realities'', p. 249.</ref>

== Influence on arts and culture ==
{{Main|Trojan War in literature and the arts}}

The ''Iliad'' was a standard work of great importance already in [[Classical Greece]] and remained so throughout the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Byzantine Empire|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 {{lang|la|[[Ilias Latina]]}}, was very widely studied and read as a basic school text. [[Baebia gens|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 [[Ilias Latina|Homerus Latinus]] and was formerly attributed to Pindarus Thebaeus.<ref name="Nikoletseas, Michael M 2012"/> 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.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} These [[late antique]] forged accounts formed the basis of several eminently popular [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[chivalric romance]]s, 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 {{lang|la|Excidium Troiae}} and works in the vernaculars such as the [[Trójumanna saga|Icelandic Troy Saga]]. Even without Homer, the Trojan War story had remained central to Western European [[medieval literature|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 of Troy|Brutus]], for instance.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nennius |title=Historia Brittonum |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/nennius-full.asp |website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>

[[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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thetis Transporting Arms for Achilles |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/239234 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>

[[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.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

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 language|Syriac]] and [[Middle Persian|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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=الإلياذة (Iliad) |last=Al-Boustani |first=Suleyman |publisher=[[Hindawi (publisher)|Hindawi]] |date=2012 |isbn=978-977-719-184-5 |pages=26–27}}</ref>

=== 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 (film)|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 poem]]s of the [[First World War]] and was written by [[Patrick Shaw-Stewart]] while waiting to be sent to fight at [[Gallipoli campaign|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.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bruce B. Lawrence and Aisha Karim |title=On Violence - A Reader |date=2008 |page=377 |isbn=978-0-8223-3769-0 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]]}}</ref>
* The 1954 [[Broadway musical]] ''[[The Golden Apple (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 [[United States|America]]'s [[Washington (state)|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 (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 (author)|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".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Logue |first=Christopher |title=War Music, an account of Homer's Iliad |publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-571-31449-2 |chapter=Introduction by Christopher Reid}}</ref>
* 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 (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 {{interlanguage link|Frankfurter Poetik-Vorlesungen|de}}. 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]]'' ({{abbr|cf.|compare with}} {{lang|grc|μῆνιν ἄειδε}}) (1983) is a [[Postmodern literature|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 (Bradley novel)|The Firebrand]]'' retells the story from the point of view of [[Cassandra|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 (comics)|Age of Bronze]]'', which began in 1998, retells the legend of the Trojan War.<ref>[[Eric Shanower]], ''A Thousand Ships'' (2001, {{ISBN|1-58240-200-0}}); —. ''Sacrifice'' (2004, {{ISBN|1-58240-360-0}}); —. ''Betrayal, Part One'' (2008, {{ISBN|978-1-58240-845-3}})</ref>
* [[Dan Simmons]]'s epic science fiction adaptation/tribute ''[[Ilium (novel)|Ilium]]'' was released in 2003, receiving a [[Locus Award]] for best science fiction novel of 2003.<ref>[https://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=56 Ilium|WWEnd], ''worldswithoutend.com'', retrieved 2 February 2025</ref>
* ''[[Troy (movie)|Troy]]'' (2004), a loose film adaptation of the ''Iliad'', received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, particularly in international sales. It grossed $133{{nbsp}}million in the United States and $497{{nbsp}}million worldwide, making it the 188th top-grossing movie of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/ |title=All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses |website=boxofficemojo.com}}</ref>
* ''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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}
* [[Alice Oswald]]'s sixth collection, ''Memorial'' (2011),<ref>{{cite book |first=Alice |last=Oswald |title=Memorial - An Excavation of the Iliad |publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-571-27416-1 |url=http://www.faber.co.uk/work/memorial/9780571274161/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606191424/http://faber.co.uk/work/memorial/9780571274161/ |archive-date=6 June 2012}}</ref> is based on but departs from the [[Narrative poetry|narrative]] form of the ''Iliad'' to focus on, and so commemorate, the individually named characters whose deaths are mentioned in that poem.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Tom |last=Holland |title=''The Song of Achilles'' by Madeline Miller / ''Memorial'' by Alice Oswald. Surfing the rip tide of all things Homeric |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/10/homer-achilles-iliad-miller-2 |location=London |date=17 October 2011 |access-date=1 June 2012 |archive-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523130310/https://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/10/homer-achilles-iliad-miller-2}}</ref><ref name="kellaway20111002">{{cite news |first=Kate |last=Kellaway |title=''Memorial'' by Alice Oswald – review |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/02/memorial-alice-oswald-review |date=2 October 2011 |access-date=1 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Charlotte |last=Higgins |author-link=Charlotte Higgins |title=''The Song of Achilles'' by Madeline Miller, and more – review |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/28/song-achilles-madeline-miller-iliad |location=London |date=28 October 2011 |access-date=1 June 2012}}</ref> In October 2011, ''Memorial'' was short-listed for the [[T. S. Eliot Prize]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Alison |last=Flood |title=TS Eliot prize 2011 shortlist revealed |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/20/ts-eliot-prize-2011-shortlist |location=London |date=20 October 2011 |access-date=1 June 2012}}</ref> but in December 2011, Oswald withdrew the book from the shortlist,<ref>{{cite news |first=Florence |last=Waters |title=Poet withdraws from TS Eliot prize over sponsorship |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8938343/Poet-withdraws-from-TS-Eliot-prize-over-sponsorship.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8938343/Poet-withdraws-from-TS-Eliot-prize-over-sponsorship.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |date=6 December 2011 |access-date=13 February 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Alison |last=Flood |title=Alice Oswald withdraws from TS Eliot prize in protest at sponsor Aurum |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/06/alice-oswald-withdraws-ts-eliot-prize |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=6 December 2011 |access-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> citing concerns about the ethics of the prize's sponsors.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alice |last=Oswald |author-link=Alice Oswald |title=Why I pulled out of the TS Eliot poetry prize? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/dec/12/ts-eliot-poetry-prize-pulled-out |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=12 December 2011 |access-date=13 February 2012}}</ref>
* [[Madeline Miller]]'s 2011 debut novel, ''[[The Song of Achilles]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[The Song of Achilles]] |last=Miller |first=Madeline |author-link=Madeline Miller |date=2011 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Group|Bloomsbury]] |isbn=978-1-4088-1603-5}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/20/madeline-miller-discusses-the-song-of-achilles.html |title=Madeline Miller Discusses ''The Song of Achilles'' |last=Ciabattari |first=Jane |date=21 March 2012 |website=thedailybeast.com |access-date=1 June 2012}}</ref>
* ''For the Most Beautiful'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=For the Most Beautiful |last=Hauser |first=Emily |author-link=Emily Hauser |date=2016 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-1-784-16065-4}}</ref> 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]]''<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[A Thousand Ships]] |last=Haynes |first=Natalie |author-link=Natalie Haynes |date=2019 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-1-509-83621-5}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Natalie Haynes - A Thousand Ships |url=https://nataliehaynes.com/books/a-thousand-ships |website=nataliehaynes.com |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Announcing the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist |url=https://www.womensprize.com/announcing-the-2020-womens-prize-for-fiction-shortlist/ |website=womensprize.com |date=31 March 2020 |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref>
* As part of his continuing literary interest in classical myths, [[Stephen Fry]] published ''Troy'' in 2020.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Troy |last=Fry |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Fry |date=2020 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-241-42458-2}}</ref> The book has become popular as a more accessible way to read the Greek myths.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dutta |first1=Shomit |title=Troys for girls and boys |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/classics/troy-stephen-fry-shmoit-dutta |publisher=[[The Times Literary Supplement]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=8 January 2021}}</ref>
* [[Pat Barker]]'s published ''[[The Silence of the Girls]]''<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[The Silence of the Girls]] |last=Barker |first=Pat |author-link=Pat Barker |date=2019 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-241-98320-1}}</ref> and ''The Women of Troy''<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Women of Troy |last=Barker |first=Pat |author-link=Pat Barker |date=2022 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-241-98833-6}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web |title=The 100 best books of the 21st century |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=21 September 2019}}</ref>

=== Sciences ===
* Psychiatrist [[Jonathan Shay]] wrote two books, ''Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character'' (1994)<ref>[[Jonathan Shay]], ''Achilles in Vietnam: Combat trauma and the undoing of character'', Scribner, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-684-81321-9}}</ref> and ''Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming'' (2002),<ref>Shay, Jonathan; ''Odysseus in America - Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming'', New York, Scribner, 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-7432-1157-4}}</ref> 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]]).<ref>Nikoletseas Michael M., The Iliad - The Male Totem, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-4820-6900-6}}</ref>

== English translations ==
{{Main|English translations of Homer}}
[[File:Iliad1660Frontis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.20|[[Wenceslas Hollar]]'s engraved title page of a 1660 edition of the ''Iliad'', translated by [[John Ogilby]]]]
[[File:Iliad editions.jpg|thumb|Sampling of translations and editions of ''Iliad'' in English]]

[[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."<ref name=":7">''The Oxford Guide to English Literature in Translation''.</ref>{{Rp|351}} 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".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gutting |first1=Edward |title=Chapman's Homer - The Iliad |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/1999/1999.10.14/ |journal=[[Bryn Mawr Classical Review]] |access-date=1 February 2025 |date=14 October 1999}}</ref>

[[John Keats]] praised Chapman in the sonnet ''[[On First Looking into Chapman's Homer]]'' (1816).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Keats |first1=John |author1-link=John Keats |title=On First Looking into Chapman's Homer |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44481/on-first-looking-into-chapmans-homer |publisher=[[Poetry Foundation]] |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref> [[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"<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|352}} 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:

<blockquote>
[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.
</blockquote>

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."<ref name=":7" />{{Rp|354}} 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 (novelist)|Samuel Butler]] was published by Longmans. Butler had read [[Classics]] at Cambridge University, graduating in 1859.<ref>[[St John's College, Cambridge|St John's College]] – [http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/iliad-1898 The Iliad (1898)], [[Cambridge University]], [retrieved 16 June 2016]</ref>

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 [[Iamb (poetry)|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 (historian)|Peter Green]] translated the Iliad in 2015, a version published by the [[University of California Press]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

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

[[Emily Wilson (classicist)|Emily Wilson]]'s 2023 translation uses unrhymed [[iambic pentameter]]s.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2023/09/homers-history-violence-the-iliad |url-access=subscription |title=Homer's history of violence |author=[[Rowan Williams]] |date=6 September 2023 |magazine=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |title=The Iliad |date=2023 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-1-324-00180-5 |translator=Emily Wilson |translator-link=Emily Wilson (classicist)}}</ref>

== Manuscripts ==
There are more than 2000 manuscripts of Homer.<ref>{{OCLC|722287142}}{{failed verification|date=October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bird |first1=Graeme D. |title=Multitextuality in the Homeric Iliad - The Witness of the Ptolemaic Papyr |date=2010 |publisher=[[Center for Hellenic Studies]] |isbn=978-0-674-05323-6}}{{page needed|date=October 2023}}</ref> Some of the most notable manuscripts{{According to whom|date=May 2022}} 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 ==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece}}
* [[Mask of Agamemnon]]
* [[Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey|Parallels between Virgil's ''Aeneid'' and Homer's ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'']]
* [[Heinrich Schliemann]]
* [[English translations of Homer]]

=== Notes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== References ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |title=Herodotus - The Histories |editor1-last=Burn |editor1-first=A. R. |editor2-last=de Sélincourt |editor2-first=Aubrey |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |date=1975 |orig-date=1954 |isbn=0-14-051260-8 |ref={{harvid|Herodotus (de Sélincourt)|1975}}}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/who-was-homer |access-date=2 February 2025 |title=Who was Homer? |last=Dunn |first=Daisy |work=The British Museum |author-link=Daisy Dunn |date=2020 |publisher=[[British Museum]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Fowler |first=R. |date=2004a |chapter=The Homeric question |title=The Cambridge Companion to Homer |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Fowler |first=R. |date=2004b |chapter=The poet's craft |title=The Cambridge Companion to Homer |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Hammond |editor1-first=M. |title=Homer, ''The Iliad'' |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |date=1987}}
* {{Citation |translator-last=Lattimore |translator-first=Richmond |translator-link=Richmond Lattimore |title=The Iliad by Homer |date=1951 |place=Chicago |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |ref={{harvid|Lattimore|1951}}}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Ready |editor1-first=Jonathan L. |editor2-last=Tsagalis |editor2-first=Christos C. |title=Homer in Performance - Rhapsodes, Narrators, and Characters |date=2018 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author-link=Milan Budimir |first=Milan |last=Budimir |date=1940 |title=On the Iliad and Its Poet}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2023|reason=No bibliographic detail can be found.}}
* De Jong, Irene (2012), ''Iliad - Book XXII'', [[Cambridge University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0-521-70977-4}}
* 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, {{ISBN|0-521-30959-X}}
* 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, {{ISBN|0-521-28171-7}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Robin Lane Fox |last=Fox |first=Robin Lane |title=Travelling Heroes - Greeks and their myths in the epic age of Homer |publisher=[[Allen Lane]] |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-7139-9980-8}}
* [[Barbara Graziosi]], Haubold, Johannes; ''Iliad - Book VI'', [[Cambridge University Press]], 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-521-87884-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kouroupis |first1=Georgios |last2=Tsiplakos |first2=Ioannis |title=The Iliad - honour and glory in Wilios |date=2022 |publisher=[[Akritas, Kilkis|Akritas]] |isbn=978-618-84202-9-8}}
* [[Geoffrey Kirk]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=TguHR9k8DQ8C The Iliad - A Commentary: Volume I, Books 1–4], [[Cambridge University Press]], 1985, {{ISBN|0-521-23709-2}}
* Geoffrey Kirk, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4ZdxbCe84z0C The Iliad - A Commentary: Volume II, Books 5–8], [[Cambridge University Press]], 1990, {{ISBN|0-521-23710-6}}
* Hainsworth, Bryan; [[Geoffrey Kirk]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=URaInQEACAAJ The Iliad - A Commentary: Volume III, Books 9–12], [[Cambridge University Press]], 1993, {{ISBN|0-521-23711-4}}]
* Murray, A. T.; Wyatt, William F., ''Homer - The Iliad, Books I–XII'', Loeb Classical Library, [[Harvard University Press]], 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-674-99579-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Mueller |first=Martin |title=The Iliad |url=https://archive.org/details/iliad0000muel |publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]] |date=1984 |isbn=0-04-800027-2 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Gregory Nagy |last=Nagy |first=Gregory |title=The Best of the Achaeans |url=http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/nagy/BofATL/toc.html |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |date=1979 |isbn=0-8018-2388-9 |access-date=20 July 2006 |archive-date=17 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217125451/http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/nagy/BofATL/toc.html}}
* {{Cite book |title=History and the Homeric Iliad |date=1959 |isbn=978-0-520-00983-7 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |last=Page |first=Denys Lionel}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Barry B. Powell |last=Powell |first=Barry B. |title=Homer |url=https://archive.org/details/homer00powe |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Blackwell's]] |date=2004 |isbn=978-1-4051-5325-6}}
* [[Nicholas Richardson]], [[Geoffrey Kirk]], The Iliad - A Commentary: Volume VI, Books 21–24, [[Cambridge University Press]], 1993, {{ISBN|0-521-30960-3}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Richard Seaford |last=Seaford |first=Richard |title=Reciprocity and Ritual |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1994 |isbn=0-19-815036-9}}
* [[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.{{nbsp}}46–53, Long-form article on [[Emily Wilson (classicist)|Emily Wilson]]'s Homer translations. 
* {{cite book |author-link=Martin Litchfield West |last=West |first=Martin |title=The East Face of Helicon |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1997 |isbn=0-19-815221-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIp0RYIjazQC}}
* [[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, {{ISBN|3-598-73005-5}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Iliad}}
{{wikisource|The Iliad|''The Iliad''}}
{{wikisourcelang|el|Ιλιάς|Ἰλιάς}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Iliad}}

* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/homer/the-iliad/william-cullen-bryant|Display Name=''The Iliad'', translated by William Cullen Bryant|noitalics=true}}
* {{librivox book | title=The Iliad | author=HOMER}}
* 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 Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|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 (poet)|Samuel Butler]], at Project Gutenberg
* ''Iliad'' : [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hom.+Il.+1.1 from the Perseus Project] ([[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''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815083712/http://www.shmoop.com/iliad/ |date=15 August 2014 }} 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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