The Iliad & The Odyssey

The Iliad and The Odyssey are epic poems traditionally attributed to Homer, of which the written versions are dated to the 8th century BCE. Chronicling events in the Greek Bronze Age, this magnificent pair of poems forms the cornerstone of Western literature.

If The Iliad is a classic war story, The Odyssey is symbolic of the individual’s journey through life. Achilles is the main hero of The Iliad which describes the final stage of the Trojan War, a conflict between a coalition of Greek city states and the city of Troy in Anatolia. The cause of the war was the kidnapping of Helen, wife of the King of Sparta, by the Trojan prince Paris.

Longer and more complex than The Iliad, The Odyssey deals with the struggle of the hero Odysseus to return home to his island of Ithaca after the war. He faces and escapes numerous perils on the voyage, like the spell of a nymph, an intoxicating plant, a one-eyed killer giant, a hideous sea monster and the deadly sirens whose songs lure sailors to dea