Iliad, epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. It takes the Trojan War as its subject, though the Greek warrior Achilles is its primary focus.
The experience of reading the Iliad can be dramatically different depending on the version you choose. To help you make this choice, this site lists some of the most popular translations with a summary and passages to see which you like best.
It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. 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 an epic poem that tells the final year of the 10-year Trojan War where Greek city-states besiege Troy in order to regain Helen, the wife of Menelaus (King of Sparta), who had been abducted by the Trojan prince Paris.
An epic poem written by the Greek poet Homer, the Iliad recounts the events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the siege of the city of Troy after Helen of Sparta is kidnapped by the Trojan prince Paris.
The Iliad, a major founding work of European literature, is usually dated to around the 8th century BC, and attributed to Homer. It is an epic poem, written in Ancient Greek but assumed to be derived from earlier oral sources, and tells much of the story of the legendary Trojan War between mainland Greece and the city of Troy in Asia Minor.
The Daily Telegraph: A grand new Iliad translation – and it’s an English triumph