The Iliad, along with the Odyssey, another epic poem credited to Homer, which accounts of Odysseus' experiences after the events of the Iliad, is one of the oldest existing works of Western literature. [2] The Iliad is written in Homeric Greek, a literary fusion of Ionic Greek and other dialects, and has 15,693 lines divided into 24 books in the modern vulgate (the officially acknowledged version). It's traditionally categorised as part of the Epic Cycle.



It relates of the fights and events during the weeks of a conflict between King Agamemnon and the hero Achilles during the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek nations (Achaeans). The Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege, despite the fact that the storey only covers a few weeks in the final year of the war; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns, tend to appear near the beginning.