View source for Iliupersis

{{short description|Lost ancient Greek epic}}
{{redirect|The Sack of Troy|the late Roman epic by Tryphiodorus|Tryphiodorus#The Taking of Ilios}}
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[[Image:J G Trautmann Das brennende Troja.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''The Fall of Troy'' by [[Johann Georg Trautmann]] (1713–1769); from the collections of the [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Grand Dukes of Baden]], [[Karlsruhe]]]]
{{Trojan War}}
The '''''Iliupersis''''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Ἰλίου πέρσις}}, {{transliteration|grc|Ilíou pérsis}}, {{lit|Sack of [[Troy|Ilium]]}}), also known as '''''The Sack of Troy''''', is a lost [[Epic poetry|epic]] of ancient [[Greek literature]]. It was one of the [[Epic Cycle]], that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the [[Trojan War]] in epic verse. The story of the ''Iliou persis'' comes chronologically after that of the ''[[Little Iliad]]'', and is followed by the {{transliteration|grc|[[Nostoi]]}} ("Returns"). The ''Iliou persis'' was sometimes attributed by ancient writers to [[Arctinus of Miletus]] who lived in the {{century BC|8th}}E (see [[Cyclic Poets]]). The poem comprised two books of verse in [[dactylic hexameter]].

==Date==
The ''Iliou persis'' was probably composed in the {{century BC|seventh}}E, but there is much uncertainty. Ancient sources date Arctinus to the {{century BC|eighth}}E, but evidence concerning another of his poems, the ''[[Aethiopis]]'', suggests that he lived considerably later than that.

==Content==
Only ten lines of the original text of the ''Iliou persis'' survive. For its storyline, we are almost entirely dependent on a summary of the Cyclic epics contained in the ''[[Chrestomathy]]'' written by an unknown Proclus (possibly to be identified with the 2nd century CE grammarian [[Eutychius Proclus]]). A few other references give indications of the poem's storyline. A further impression of the poem's content may be gained from book 2 of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' (written many centuries after the ''Iliou persis''), which tells the story from a Trojan point of view.

Note that different sources record some details differently: for example the manner of [[Aeneas]]' departure from Troy, or the identity of [[Astyanax]]'s killer. The version told here specifically follows what is known of the early epic poem, rather than any other source.

The poem opens with the Trojans discussing what to do with the wooden horse which the Greeks have left behind: some thought they ought to hurl it down from the rocks, others to burn it up, while others say they ought to dedicate it to Athena. The third opinion prevails, and the Trojans celebrate their apparent victory. The god [[Poseidon]], meanwhile, sends an ill omen of two snakes that kill [[Laocoön]] and one of his two sons; seeing this, [[Aeneas]] and his men leave Troy in anticipation of what is to come.

When night comes, signaled by [[Sinon]], the Greek warriors inside the horse emerge and open the city gates to let in the Greek army, having sailed back from [[Tenedos]]. The Trojans are massacred, and the Greeks set fire to the city.

[[Neoptolemus]] kills king [[Priam]], even though he has taken refuge at the altar of [[Zeus]]; [[Menelaus]] kills [[Deiphobus]] and takes back his wife [[Helen of Troy|Helen]]; [[Ajax the Lesser]] wrests [[Cassandra]] from the altar of [[Athena]], incurring physical damage to the idol. The Greeks determine that they should stone Ajax in retribution, but he in turn also takes refuge at the altar of Athena. [[Odysseus]] kills [[Hector]]'s baby son [[Astyanax]] and [[Neoptolemus]] takes Hector's wife [[Andromache]] captive.  The Greeks make a human sacrifice of Priam's daughter [[Polyxena]] at Achilles' tomb. Athena formulates a plan to inflict revenge upon the Greeks concurrent with their nautical return.

==Editions==
*Online editions (English translation):
**[http://mcllibrary.org/Hesiod/ilium.html Fragments of the ''Iliou persis''] translated by H.G. Evelyn-White, 1914 (public domain)
**[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/348 Fragments of complete Epic Cycle] translated by H.G. Evelyn-White, 1914; [[Project Gutenberg]] edition
*Print editions (Greek):
**A. Bernabé 1987, ''Poetarum epicorum Graecorum testimonia et fragmenta'' pt. 1 (Leipzig: [[Bibliotheca Teubneriana]])
**M. Davies 1988, ''Epicorum Graecorum fragmenta'' (Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht)
*Print editions (Greek with English translation):
**M.L. West 2003, ''Greek Epic Fragments'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press]])

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Abrantes, M.C. (2016), ''Themes of the Trojan Cycle: Contribution to the study of the greek mythological tradition'' (Coimbra). {{ISBN|978-1530337118}}
* Burgess, Jonathan S., ''The Tradition of the Trojan War in Homer and the Epic Cycle'', The Johns Hopkins University Press, (2004). {{ISBN|0-8018-6652-9}}. (p.&nbsp;180).
* Davies, Malcolm; ''Greek Epic Cycle'', Duckworth Publishers; 2 edition (May 2, 2001). {{ISBN|1-85399-039-6}}.
* Evelyn-White, Hugh G., ''Hesiod the Homeric Hymns and Homerica'', BiblioBazaar (March 13, 2007). {{ISBN|1-4264-7293-5}}.


{{Epic Cycle}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:7th-century BC books]]
[[Category:7th-century BC poems]]
[[Category:Epic Cycle]]
[[Category:Lost poems]]