Homer's Iliad

The Iliad is an epic poem written down about 2,700 years ago, although the story is much older. It was first told and sung orally during the Greek Dark Age by traveling storytellers. After the Greek Dark Ages, Homer, a Greek poet, supposedly wrote down the entire story somewhere between 750 BCE and 650 BCE, so that it would never be forgotten. The Iliad is the story of the 10^th and final year of the Trojan War. It focuses on a brave and powerful Greek warrior, Achilles.

Achilles is a legend or possibly a myth, since Achilles mother was a magical nymph and his father a mortal king. Like all the Greek myths and legends, there is no proof that the hero Achilles ever existed. The Trojan War is a legend. There is no proof that this war ever took place. But the ancient Greeks believed in both the hero and the war. The Iliad is a great story, full of adventure and magic and battles and friendship.

Achilles (mythweb)

Homer's Iliad (a quick clear look at the plot and characters in the story)

The Trojan War

Homer also wrote the Odyssey (adventures on the way back to Greece after the Trojan War)

More ancient Greek myths and stories