•Long narrative poem told in dactylic hexameter

•Narrative: a story or telling of a story; an account of a situation

or event; may be fiction or non-fiction

•Dactylic Hexameter: meter often associated with epic poetry;

six sets of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed
syllables

•About Ilium, another name for the city of Troy

•One of two epics usually contributed to Homer, the blind poet

•Epic: long narrative poem written in elevated style that
recounts adventures of a hero

•The first work of European literature

•Considered one of the most important works in Ancient Greek
Literature
•Homer
•Not a whole lot is known about the poet
•Thought to be blind

•Thought of as renowned Greek poet who is traditionally

associated with both The Iliad and The Odyssey

•Not everyone believes Homer is the true author of these epics

because of varying interpretations and inconsistencies
•Commonly dated to the 8th century BC
•This is around the time the alphabet was introduced to Greece

•Events in the story took place roughly 500 years before it was
written down in about the 13th Century BC
•The poem was passed down through oral tradition
•Oral tradition: when stories are passed down by word of
mouth

•Recitation was an integral part to Greek religious festivals

•Spoken or sung (often all night) with the audience coming and
going for the parts they particularly enjoyed

•Repetition is an essential part of the telling because the poem is so

long; it helps keep the audience in tune with what is going on
•Takes place in the 9th year of the Trojan War in Troy
•We don’t hear about the first nine years or the very end of the
war

•The epic takes place throughout a 51 day period, but mainly focuses
on 4 days
•Achaeans •Trojans
•Agamemnon •Hector
•Leader of Achaeans •Son of Priam
•King of Mycenae •Great Trojan Warrior
•Achilles •Paris
•King of Myrmidons •Son of Priam
•Great Warrior •Lover who stole Helen
•Patroclus and started the Trojan
•Achilles’ best friend War
•Menelaus •Priam
•King of Sparta •Aged King of Troy
•Husband of Helen

Gods for Achaeans: Hera, Athena,

Gods for Trojans: Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares
Other Gods: Zeus, Hephaestus, Thetis and Hermes
•Achaeans:
•King Peleus and Thetis are the parents of Achilles

•Atreus is the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus.

•Agamemnon is married to Clytemnestra
•Menelaus is married to Helen
•Helen and Clytemnestra are sisters

•Trojans:
•King Priam and Hecuba are the parents of Hector and Paris

•Paris is the reason the war started; he stole Helen from

Menelaus

•Hector is married to Andromache and they have an infant son,

Astyanax
•The epic opens with a dispute between Achilles, King of Myrmidons
and greatest Achaean warrior, and Agamemnon, the king of
Mycenae and the leader of the Achaeans

•The Achaean army has just sacked a town and captured two beautiful
maidens, Chryseis and Briseis, who are then given to Agamemnon and
Achilles as prizes

•Chyseis father is a priest of Apollo and when Agamemnon refuses to

return his daughter, Chryses prays to Apollo to send a plague down
upon the Achaeans.

•Eventually Agamemnon agrees to return the girl, but will not go

without a prize. At this point, he demands Achilles’ maiden and the
main conflict ensues.

•Achilles refuses to fight and asks Thetis, his mother, to convince Zeus
to aid the Trojans until the Achaeans beg him to come back to fight
with them.
•Duel between Paris, a Trojan Prince, and Menelaus, the brother of
Agamemnon and husband of Helen

•Trojans gain upper hand; push Achaeans back

•Continual interference of the Gods for both sides

•Patroclus takes Achilles’ armor into battle and is then slain by

Hector (who then strips Patroclus of the armor).
 •Achilles begins killing every Trojan he sees
•This is the first time we actually see Achilles engage in
combat

•Achilles confronts Hector

•Hector is ashamed of bad advice he gave his men; refuses
to flee inside the city walls
•Tries to outrun Achilles but is tricked by Athena into
fighting

•Achilles kills Hector

•Achilles drags Hector’s corpse behind his chariot all
through the battlefield and back to the Achaean camp. He
continues this for 9 days
•
•Triumphant Achaeans celebrate the funeral of Patroclus through a
series of athletic games held in his honor
•Gods decide Hector deserves a proper burial as well

•Hermes escorts King Priam to Achilles’ tent where the king pleads
for the return of his son’s body

•Achilles agrees and Hector’s body is returned to the Trojans, where

he receives a hero’s burial