The Iliad - Softcover

Little is known about the poet Homer. Some say he lived c. 850 BCE; others that he lived earlier - around 1102 BCE. But he is considered to be the first and the greatest of the epic poets and in addition to The Iliad is also thought to be the author of The Odyssey. Plato's Republic describes his importance to the ancient Greeks, calling him "the first teacher" of tragedy and the leader of learning.

Dating from around the 8th century BC, The Iliad is a prime example of an epic narrative poem and is one of Western literature's oldest works. It tells the story of the weeks during the Trojan war when King Agamemnon and the hero warrior Achilles were at loggerheads. With dramatic flashbacks to previous events during the war and, allusions to what is to come, The Iliad provides an almost complete overview of the events of the Trojan War. Written originally in Homeric Greek, it has been translated numerous times and into many different languages.