Upon completing Homer’s The Odyssey, I deemed it borderline necessary to additionally read The Iliad. I wasn’t entirely sure if I screwed up by reading The Odyssey before reading The Iliad, and there are a lot of different opinions on the matter online; because it seems as though no one can come to an agreement regarding which one to read first, I think you’re fine to just do you, boo.
The following is a brief summary of the plot of The Iliad by Homer, from www.britannica.com.
“Iliad, ancient Greek epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the poet Homer and was likely composed in the mid-8th to early 7th century bce. The title derives from Ilios, another name for Troy. According to Greek mythology, Helen, wife of the Spartan king Menelaus, had fled to Troy with Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, which led to the Trojan War. Although the Iliad takes the Trojan War as its subject, it concentrates only on a brief period in its final year, with the Greek warrior Achilles as its primary focus.”
Am I enjoying this story? Yes. Is it confusing as fuck in the context of how many of what seems like hundreds of characters there are? Yes.
Like the excerpt posted above describes, The Iliad is the story of Achilles and his ventures throughout the Trojan War. Odysseus is mentioned quite a bit as well, but it primarily focuses on Achilles.
There is a hell of a lot of combat and battle scenes in this story, which I am absolutely loving. However, because there are so many names to follow, I often find myself attempting to figure out who it is in a particular scene that’s fighting, winning or dying.
I would say this book is a read, mainly because it is a literary masterpiece, but the plot is hectic, to say the least.
Photo by Jocelyn Allen on Unsplash
