The 

Iliad 
The Iliad is an epic poem attributed to Homer. It was probably composed between 800 and 700 BCE, and
some scholars believe that it had multiple authors, not just one. The Iliad story is part of an extended
mythology around the legendary Trojan War in which the Greeks and the Trojans fought for ten years.
Homer's Iliad was originally written in dactylic hexameter, a verse form that suited Latin and Greek but is
notoriously difficult to use in English. As a result, most English translations of the Iliad are either written in
the more standard iambic pentameter or are simply translated into prose.

The Iliad and the Trojan War

The Iliad and the Trojan War are inseparable concepts: the poem is set entirely during the war and has
become the most famous literary work about the Trojan War. Despite this close connection, the Iliad spans
only a few weeks at the end of the war, rather than describing it from the beginning. It is assumed that
readers of the Iliad will already have some background about the war and know who the major players are.
According to various works, including the Iliad, the Trojan War began when Paris, a Trojan prince, kidnapped
or eloped with Helen, a Greek queen who was married to Menelaus. Menelaus, furious that his wife had
been taken from him, gathered an army of Greeks and headed to Troy on a fleet of ships to retrieve her. For
this reason, Helen, who was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, is often called ''the face that
launched a thousand ships.'' The Greeks arrived at Troy and laid siege for years to the city. The battle was
attended by many of the Olympian gods, who took sides and helped or hindered the warriors throughout the
fighting for their own entertainment. The war raged on for ten years with no sign of who the victor would be.
In this setting, just weeks before the end of the war, the Iliad begins.

The Iliad Summary
There are twenty-four books in the Iliad, and the entire poem spans 15,693 lines. Before diving into
an Iliad plot summary, it is essential to understand who the major players in this story will be. It is important
to note that modern audiences typically require a lot of background information that audiences at the time
did not need. The Iliad told a story that everyone was already familiar with, so the poem does not need to
explain who all of the characters are or how they arrived at this juncture in the war.

The Characters
No Iliad synopsis would be complete without a detailed look at all of the parties participating in the story.
Because the Iliad tells the story of two warring groups, it may be simpler to look at the characters based on
which side of the war they find themselves on. This is a list of the Trojans in the story, who live in the walled
city of Troy and defend it against the Greeks.

Character Background and Role Major Actions


The younger prince of Troy, Paris is
Paris
not a great fighter
Paris brings Helen to Troy and then fights the Greeks.
He often has the help of various gods, as he would not
get far as a warrior on his own.

The elder prince of Troy, Hector is

Paris' brother. He is a great fighter Hector is widely considered the best warrior among the
Hector
and a good man who is greatly Trojans. He is honorable and courageous.
admired

The Trojan king and the father of Priam is too old to fight, and he is kind to Helen despite
Priam
Paris and Hector the violence that her presence has caused.

The poem makes Helen a somewhat ambiguous

Helen is actually Greek, but she
character; it is not clear whether she loves Paris and
Helen remains in Troy for the duration of
stays in Troy voluntarily or whether she is more
the Iliad as Paris' wife
conflicted about her role in the war.

Aeneas is an important but secondary character in

A Trojan noble and a powerful the Iliad. However, he is the protagonist of Virgil's
Aeneas
warrior later Aeneid, which focuses on Aeneas as the founder of
Rome.

Two young women from near Troy After Agamemnon is forced to return Chryseis to her
Chryseis
who the Greeks capture as war father, he takes Briseis from Achilles as compensation,
and Briseis
prizes sparking Achilles' rage.
In addition to the Trojans, there are also many characters from the opposite side of the war: the Greeks.

Character Background and Role Major Actions

Achilles is the greatest warrior in the

Greek army. His mother, a minor goddess, When Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles,
Achilles dipped him into the River Styx when he he refuses to fight. After Patroclus dies, he
was a baby, making him invincible except becomes enraged and kills Hector.
for on his heel

Achilles' cousin and, according to many When Achilles refuses to fight, Patroclus dons
Patroclus readings, lover; Patroclus is a strong Achilles' armor and leads the army into battle
warrior in his own right only to be killed by Hector.

Agamemnon takes Chryseis as a war prize but is

Agamemnon is the leader of the Greek forced to release her when a plague ravages his
Agamemno
army, king of Mycenae, and brother of army. He then takes Briseis instead, leading
n
Menelaus Achilles to refuse to fight and ultimately
resulting in even more deaths.

Menelaus has the most personal reason to be in

King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, Troy: he wants to get his wife back. He is not a
Menelaus
and first husband of Helen particularly good warrior, but he is less arrogant
than his brother is.

Odysseus A Greek warrior and excellent strategist Odysseus survives the Trojan War and is the
protagonist of Homer's other epic poem,
the Odyssey, which chronicles his ten-year
 journey back home to Ithaca.

After Achilles stops fighting, Diomedes heads

back into battle and ends up wounding
Diomedes A Greek warrior and friend of Odysseus
Aphrodite and Ares when Athena gives him
courage.
Other vital characters present in the story include several Greek gods. Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Zeus, Hera,
Apollo, Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Hermes all participate in the war in some capacity. Thetis, Achilles'
mother, is also present.

The Iliad recounts a brief but crucial period of the Trojan War, a conflict between the
city of Troy and its allies against a confederation of Greek cities, collectively known as
the Achaeans. The conflict began when Paris, the son of Troy’s king Priam, seized a
willing Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, from the Achaean
king Menelaus. The Achaeans raised a massive army and sailed to Troy, bent on
winning Helen back by force.
As the story begins, the war is in its ninth year. The Achaeans have recently sacked a
nearby city, taking several beautiful women captive along with a lot of
treasure. Chryses, a priest of Apollo from the sacked city, approaches the Achaean
camp and asks Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaeans, to release his daughter,
who is one of the captives, from slavery. Agamemnon refuses. Chryses prays to
Apollo to punish the Achaeans, and Apollo rains down a plague on the Achaean
army.
The plague ravages the Achaean army. Desperate for an answer, the Achaeans ask
the prophet Calchas about the plague’s cause. Calchas instructs Agamemnon to give
back Chryses’ daughter. Agamemnon agrees reluctantly, but demands that he be
given Briseis, the captive girl given to the warrior Achilles, as compensation. Achilles
is enraged by Agamemnon’s demand and refuses to fight for Agamemnon any
longer.
Achilles, the greatest of the Achaean fighters, desires revenge on Agamemnon. He
calls to his mother Thetis, an immortal sea-nymph, and asks her to beseech Zeus to
turn the tide of the war against the Achaeans. Since Achilles is fated to die a glorious
death in battle, an Achaean collapse will help give Achilles glory, allowing him to
come to their aid. Zeus assents to Thetis’ request.
On the battlefield, Paris and Menelaus agree to duel to end the war. Menelaus is
victorious, but the Trojans break the agreement sworn to beforehand. The armies
plunge into a battle that lasts several days. In the fighting, many soldiers distinguish
themselves, including the Achaean Diomedes and Priam’s son Hector. The tide of
battle turns several times, but the Trojan forces under Hector eventually push the
Achaeans back to the fortifications they have built around their ships.
Meanwhile, a surrogate conflict is being waged between the gods on behalf of the
Trojans and Achaeans. Athena, Hera, and Poseidon support the Achaean forces,
while Apollo, Aphrodite, and Ares support the Trojans. As the battle rages on, the
gods give strength and inspiration to their respective champions. Eventually Zeus,
planning to shape the conflict by himself so that he may fulfill his promise to Thetis,
bans intervention in the war by the other gods. Zeus helps engineer the Trojan
advance against the Achaeans.
Under immense pressure, the elderly Achaean captain Nestor proposes that an
embassy be sent to Achilles in order to convince him to return to battle. Achilles
listens to their pleas but ultimately refuses, stating that he will not stir until the
Trojans to attack his own ships. After a prolonged struggle, the Trojans finally break
through the Achaean fortress, threatening to burn the ships and slaughter the
Achaeans.
Achilles’ inseparable comrade Patroclus, fearing the destruction of the Achaean
forces, asks Achilles if he can take his place in battle. Achilles eventually agrees, and
as the first Achaean ship begins to burn, Patroclus leads out Achilles’ army, dressed
in Achilles’ armor in order to frighten the Trojans. Patroclus fights excellently, and
the Trojans are repulsed from the ships. However, Patroclus disobeys Achilles’ order
to return after driving back the Trojans. He pursues the Trojans all the way to the
gates of Troy. Zeus, planning this sequence of events all along, allows Apollo to knock
Patroclus over. Hector then kills Patroclus as he lies on the ground, and a battle
breaks out over Patroclus’ body. Hector strips Achilles’ armor from Patroclus, but
Menelaus and others manage to save the body.
When Achilles learns of Patroclus’ death, he is stricken with grief. Desiring revenge
on Hector and the Trojans, Achilles reconciles with Agamemnon. His mother Thetis
visits the smith god Hephaestus, who forges new, superhuman armor for Achilles,
along with a magnificent shield that depicts the entire world. Meanwhile, the Trojans
camp outside their city’s walls, underestimating Achilles’ fury. The next day, Achilles
dons his armor and launches into battle, slaughtering numerous Trojans on the plains
of Troy. Achilles also fights the river god Xanthus, who becomes upset with Achilles
for killing so many Trojans in his waters.
The Trojans flee from the rage of Achilles and hide inside the walls of Troy. Hector
alone remains outside the wall, determined to stand fast against Achilles, but as
Achilles approaches him, Hector loses his nerve and begins to run. Achilles chases
Hector around the walls of Troy four times, but eventually Hector turns and faces
Achilles. With the help of Athena, Achilles kills Hector. He attaches Hector’s corpse to
his chariot and drags the body back to the Achaean camp as revenge for Patroclus’
death.
Achilles, still grieving, holds an elaborate funeral for Patroclus, which is followed by a
series of commemorative athletic games. After the games, Achilles continues to drag
Hector’s body around Patroclus’ corpse for nine days. The gods, wishing to see
Hector buried properly, send Priam, escorted by Hermes, to ransom Hector’s body.
Priam pleads with Achilles for mercy, asking Achilles to remember his own aging
father. Achilles is moved by Priam’s entreaty and agrees to give back Hector’s body.
Priam returns to Troy with Hector, and the Trojans grieve for their loss. A truce is
declared while the Trojans bury Hector.