The Narrative of the Iliad

The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem that was set during the Trojan War.

It tells of the battles and events between King Agamemnon and Achilles. Though it only covers a few weeks in the final year, it does give you a look into the events that led to the war. It also alludes to stuff in the future, like the death of Achilles, before it even happened. Even though it was told what happened during the war and what happened at the end of the war before it actually happened, it was a pretty complete tale of the Trojan War.

The Iliad is known as a sequel to the Odyssey and both were written by Homer. Also, both are the oldest works of Western literature, written in the 8th century BC. In the standard version, the Iliad contains 15,693 lines and written in many dialects. The Iliad is more complicated than the Odyssey.

The story states that Chryses offers the Greeks wealth for the return of his daughter, Chryseis.

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She was being held captive by Agamemnon but he refuses. So Chryses prays for Apollo's help and Apollo causes a plague to infect the Greek Army. After nine days, Achilles steps in, and under pressure, Agamemnon returns Chryseis to her father but took Achilles' slave, Briseis, instead. Achilles was pissed and said he would no longer fight for Agamemnon. Once Chryseis was returned to her father, Apollo ended the plague. Once Briseis is taken away, Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to ask Zeus for help in breaking the Greeks and having Agamemnon realize that he and his people need Achilles.

Zeus sends a dream to Agamemnon telling him to fight Troy which he does, however, his plans backfired. Odysseus eventually stepped in and got the Greek army to agree to invade the Trojan territory. The armies approach but Paris offers to end the war by fighting a duel. Both sides agree to a truce and deal with the outcome of the duel. The truce was eventually broke (due to Zeus) and the battle begins. Many Trojans are killed, the god's supporting each side try to influence the battle. There was a truce for a day so that the dead could be burned and the Greeks also built a wall and a trench. Zeus doesn't let the gods interfere and the fighting resumes. The Trojans were stronger and the Greeks retreated back to their wall. Agamemnon admits to his error as the Greeks are feeling defeated and offer gifts to Achilles to get him to help them in the fight. Achilles refuses and said he would only fight if the Trojans reached his ships.

In the night, Odysseus and Diomedes kill a Trojan and upset the camp. In the morning the fighting is bad and Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus are wounded and Achilles inquires about the Greek casualties. The Trojans are led by Hector and attack the Greek until they retreat. While Zeus was tricked into sleep, Poseidon helps the Greeks which make the Trojans retreat. Zeus wakes up and was pissed and sends Apollo to help the Trojans. Patroclus is killed by Hector and Hector takes Achilles armor which he lent to Patroclus. Zeus changes his mind about the gods helping both sides and Achilles killed many, filling the river with dead bodies, which makes the river angry. It confronts Achilles but is stopped by a firestorm. The gods end up fighting most themselves. The Trojans flee and Apollo pretends to be a Trojan and leads Achilles away. Hector ignores all to stay away from Achilles and confronts him. He ends up getting stabbed in the neck by Achilles and before he dies he tells Achilles that he will die too in the war. Hector's father, Priam, begs Achilles for his son's body back. Achilles agrees and then they discuss their losses in the war.

Troy was eventually destroyed when the Greeks built a large hollow wooden horse in which some warriors were concealed. Trojans thought the Greeks had sailed home and left the horse behind. The Trojans were persuaded to take the horse inside the city walls and the Greeks came back at night and destroyed the city of Troy.