Iliad
The Iliad is the first of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the second being the Odyssey. The date of authorship of these works is often thought to be circa 850 BC.
Warning: Plot details follow.
Set during the tenth (last) year of the Trojan War, the Iliad describes how Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, abandons the fight after king Agamemnon, the Greek commander in chief, takes an attractive captive Briseis who had been originally awarded to Achilles as a slave. Neither the beginning nor the end of the war is included in the Iliad.
The death of Patroclus, Achilles' dearest friend, at the hands of the Trojan hero Hector, brings Achilles back for revenge, and he slays Hector. Later Hector's father, king Priam, comes to Achilles disguised as a beggar to ransom his son's body back, and Achilles is moved to pity; the funeral of Hector ends the poem.
The poem is a poignant depiction of the tragedy and poignancy of friendship and family destroyed by battle. The first word of the Greek is "Μηνιν" ("meinin", meaning "wrath"); the main subject of the poem is the wrath of Achilles; a literal translation of the first line would read "Wrath sing goddess, Peleus's son Achilles" or more intelligibly "Sing, goddess, the wrath of Peleus's son Achilles".
Notable modern translations include Richmond Lattimore's, in verse that stays close to Homer's actual phrasing, and Robert Fagles's, in a freer verse that aims to strike a balance between English literary excellence and faithfulness of translation.
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