Iliad
Ἰλιάς
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A classic of antiquity. First published 800 BC, written in Homeric Greek
The Iliad is one of two major surviving ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern readers. Like the Odyssey, the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its standard edition. The Iliad is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature and is central to the study of classical philology.
Your reading
Which translation to read
Robert Fagles1990Our pick
Vivid, muscular verse that carries the battles and the grief; the most widely read modern Iliad.
Emily Wilson2023
Clear, swift blank verse, line for line with the Greek, and plain where Homer is plain.
Richmond Lattimore1951
Long, literal lines that follow the Greek closely; the classic version for study.
Where it is set
- Troy
Türkiye
Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a 10-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the war's final weeks. Source: Wikipedia, reviewed
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Its heirs
Later works that draw on Iliad.
