Inscription of lines 468–473, Book I. 400–500 AD, from Egypt. On display at the British Museum
Original title
Ἰλιάς
Translator
George Chapman and others; see English translations of Homer
Written
c. 8th century BC
Country
Ancient Greece
Language
Homeric Greek
Genre(s)
Epic poetry
Publication date
1488
Published in English
1598; 426 years ago (1598)
Lines
15,693
Followed by
The Odyssey
Metre
Dactylic hexameter
Full text
Iliad at Wikisource
Iliad at Greek Wikisource
Trojan War
Achilles tending the wounded Patroclus (Attic red-figure kylix, c. 500 BC)
Literary sources
Iliad
Epic Cycle
Aeneid, Book 2
Iphigenia in Aulis
Philoctetes
Ajax
The Trojan Women
Posthomerica
See also: Trojan War in literature and the arts
Episodes
Judgement of Paris
Seduction of Helen
Trojan Horse
Sack of Troy
The Returns
Wanderings of Odysseus
Aeneas and the Founding of Rome
Greeks and allies
Agamemnon
Achilles
Helen
Menelaus
Nestor
Odysseus
Ajax
Diomedes
Patroclus
Thersites
Achaeans
Myrmidons
See also: Achaean Leaders, Catalogue of Ships
Trojans and allies
Priam
Hecuba
Hector
Paris
Cassandra
Andromache
Aeneas
Memnon
Troilus
Penthesilea and the Amazons
Sarpedon
See also: Trojan Battle Order, Trojan Leaders
Participant gods
Caused the war:
Eris
On the Greek side:
Athena
Hephaestus
Hera
Hermes
Thetis
Poseidon
On the Trojan side:
Aphrodite
Apollo
Ares
Artemis
Leto
Scamander
Zeus
Historicity
Ahhiyawa
Alaksandu
Archaeology of Troy
Attarsiya
Hisarlik
Homeric Question
Late Bronze Age Troy
Manapa-Tarhunta letter
Milawata letter
Tawagalawa letter
Trojan language
Wilusa
See also: Historicity of the Iliad
Related topics
Bronze Age Collapse
Euhemerism
Homeric Question
Mycenae
Mycenaean warfare
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The Iliad (/ˈɪliəd/;[1] Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς, romanized: Iliás, Attic Greek:[iː.li.ás]; "[a poem] about Ilion (Troy)") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Odyssey, the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the siege's final weeks. In particular, it depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle. The Iliad is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature.
The Iliad and the Odyssey were likely written down in Homeric Greek, a literary mixture of Ionic Greek and other dialects, probably around the late 8th or early 7th century BC. Homer's authorship was infrequently questioned in antiquity, but contemporary scholarship predominantly assumes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently and that the stories formed as part of a long oral tradition. The poem was performed by professional reciters of Homer known as rhapsodes.
Critical themes in the poem include kleos (glory), pride, fate and wrath. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the poem also contains instances of comedy and laughter.[2] The poem is frequently described as a masculine or heroic epic, especially compared with the Odyssey. It contains detailed descriptions of ancient war instruments and battle tactics, and fewer female characters. The Olympian gods also play a major role in the poem, aiding their favoured warriors on the battlefield and intervening in personal disputes. Their characterisation in the poem humanised them for Ancient Greek audiences, giving a concrete sense of their cultural and religious tradition. In terms of formal style, the poem's repetitions and use of similes and epithets are often explored by scholars.
^"Iliad". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
^Bell, Robert H. "Homer's humor: laughter in the Iliad." hand 1 (2007): 596.
The Iliad (/ˈɪliəd/; Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς, romanized: Iliás, Attic Greek: [iː.li.ás]; "[a poem] about Ilion (Troy)") is one of two major ancient Greek...
The iLiad was an electronic handheld device, or e-Reader, which could be used for document reading and editing. Like the Barnes and Noble nook, Sony Reader...
Iliad S.A. is a French telecommunications company. It is based in Paris and its operations comprise fixed and mobile telephony services, prepaid phone...
8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek...
Iliad Italia S.p.A. is an Italian telecommunications company, wholly-owned subsidiary of the French group Iliad SA In December 2022, with 9.56 million...
The Little Iliad (Greek: Ἰλιὰς μικρά, Ilias mikra; Latin: parva Illias) is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that...
may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols. The historicity of the Iliad has been a topic of scholarly debate for centuries. While researchers of...
through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights...
Olympic Iliad, also known as Pasta Tube, is a 1984 steel sculpture by Alexander Liberman, located in the lawn surrounding the Space Needle at Seattle...
the greatest of all the Greek warriors. A central character in Homer's Iliad, he was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia and famous...
was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and an important character in Homer's Iliad. Born in Opus, Patroclus was the son of the Argonaut Menoetius. When he...
At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the Iliad states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the Theogony, Zeus' first...
is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. In the Iliad, Homer describes a deep and meaningful relationship between Achilles and...
Translators and scholars have translated the main works attributed to Homer, the Iliad and Odyssey, from the Homeric Greek into English since the 16th and 17th...
portrayed as a towering figure and a warrior of great courage in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War, being...
already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association...
This is a list of principal characters in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Achilles (Ἀχιλλεύς), the leader of the Myrmidons (Μυρμιδόνες), son of Peleus and...
Ogyges (Ὠγύγης). "Gyes", rather than Gyges, is found in some texts. Homer's Iliad gives Briareus a second name, saying that Briareus is the name the gods...
the daughter of Zeus (Iliad 3.374, 20.105; Odyssey 8.308, 320) and Dione (Iliad 5.370–71), see Gantz, pp. 99–100. Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation...
works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus,...
(laos) 'people') was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta. According to the Iliad, the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus’s wife, Helen, fleeing to...
shareholder of the French Internet service provider and mobile operator Iliad trading under the Free brand (France's second-largest ISP, and third mobile...
The Ambrosian Iliad or Ilias Picta (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Cod. F. 205 Inf.) is a 5th-century illuminated manuscript on vellum, which depicts the...
Global Information
Iliad at Wikisource