The Odyssey

The Iliad is a Greek epic, traditionally attributed to Homer. Composed in dactylic hexameters, it consists of 15693 verses (divided by the editors, already in antiquity, into 24 books or rhapsodies) and its plot is based on the wrath of Achilles.

It narrates the events that took place during 51 days in the tenth and last year of the Trojan War. The title of the work derives from the Greek name for Troy, Ilium.

Both The Iliad and The Odyssey were considered by the Greeks of classical times and by later generations to be the most important compositions of ancient Greek literature and were used as the basis of Greek pedagogy. Both are part of a larger series of epic poems of different authors and lengths called the Epic Cycle; however, only fragments of the other poems have survived.