Homer’s Iliad

The Iliad is a great epic written by Homer. Along with another Homeric epic, the Odyssey, it is considered the oldest example of literature and one of the most beautiful poems of all time.

Both the Iliad and the Odssey are epics written in a short run, expressing the myths about the Trojan War and the people who took part in this war. Historians say that this war between the Achaeans in Greece and the Trojans who lived in Western Anatolia dates back to approximately BC. He is of the opinion that it took place in 1199. It is thought that it took 10 years for the Achaeans to besiege Troy. There are so many stories and myths on this subject that it is impossible to know which is real and which is fake. Homer’s epic was called the Iliad, since Troy was also named Ilios in Greek. Homer does not tell the siege of Troy from beginning to end, thinking that everyone knew this story during his lifetime; It tells the events that took place in just four days in the 10th year of the war. The war is almost over. This part of the Trojan legend is known as the “Rage of Achilles”.

Writing of the epic:
Even though it is the oldest extant work, the fact that Homer only told part of the great Trojan legend and the readers assumed to know the rest indicates that the Iliad was not the first literary work written in Greek. It is thought that many stories about the Trojan war were told in this epic of Homer many years ago. Some experts interested in this subject argue that the Iliad is a collection of ballads or epics compiled by a talented writer. There are also those who believe that a person named Homer never lived, and that the name Homer is used for people whose names are unknown, who sing the ballads in the epic. However, those who have read the entire work will have no trouble realizing that it could be just one person who wrote it.

Approximately BC. Written in the 8th century, the 24-part Iliad Epic consists of a total of 15 thousand lines written in six meter.