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......The Iliad is an epic poem, a long narrative
work about heroic exploits that is elevated in
tone and highly formal in its language.
It was composed in ancient Greek and
transmitted orally before it was written
down.
Many modern translators present the Iliad in
prose, making it read like a novel.
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The Iliad derives the first two syllables of its
name from Ilios or Ilion (Greek for Troy) or,
alternately, from Ilium (Latin for Troy).
The suffix -ad means related to, concerning,
having to do with, or associated with.
Thus, Iliad means a story concerning Troy.
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Time of Action:
 About 3,200 years ago in recorded history's
infancy, when humankind's imagination peopled
the known world with great heroes and villains
and nature reflected the mood of the gods
inhabiting the mountaintops, the seas, the
forests, and the unseen worlds above and below.
 Homer fashioned The Iliad, the story of the Trojan
War, about 600 years after the war ended. The
story is a mixture of fact, legend, and myth.
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Place of Action:
 The walled city of Troy and the surrounding plains
in northwestern Anatolia, a region that is part of
modern-day Turkey.
 Anatolia is west of Greece (across the Aegean
Sea) and north of Egypt (across the
Mediterranean Sea).
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The Iliad ranks as one of the most important
and most influential works in world literature
in that it established literary standards and
conventions that writers have imitated over
the centuries, down to the present day.
It also created archetypes that hundreds of
great writers—including Vergil, Dante,
Shakespeare, Stephen Crane, and James
Joyce—alluded to when in need of an apt
metaphor or simile.
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In addition, the Iliad provided a mother lode
of information about Greek customs and
ideals and about Greek mythology.
Even though its author had no similar literary
model on which to base his work, he wrote a
masterpiece that ranks with the greatest
works of all time.
No student of literature can ignore Homer.
No writer's education is complete unless he
has read Homer.
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The meter (rhythmic pattern of syllables) of
Homer’s epic poems is dactylic hexameter.
 A dactyl is a metrical foot consisting of one accented
syllable followed by two unaccented syllables, as in
the words technical (TEK nik l), allocate (AL oh kate),
and harbinger (HAR bin jer).
 Hexameter is a line containing six metrical feet.
 Thus, dactylic hexameter is a scheme containing six
dactyls, as in the following line: MAKE me a BEAU ti
ful GOWN and a HAT fringed with TASS les of DOWN,
good sir. For a full detailed discussion and explanation
of meter and its forms, click here.
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One of the hallmarks of the Homeric style is the
epithet, a combination of a descriptive phrase
and a noun.
 An epithet presents a miniature portrait that
identifies a person or thing by highlighting a
prominent characteristic of that person or thing.
 In English, the Homeric epithet usually consists of a
noun modified by a compound adjective, such as the
following: fleet-footed Achilles, rosy-fingered dawn,
wine-dark sea, earth-shaking Poseidon, and gray-eyed
Athena.
Homer established literary practices, rules, or devices that
became commonplace in epic poetry written later. These
rules or devices are now known as epic conventions. They
include the following:
 1. The invocation of the muse, a goddess. In Greek
mythology, there were nine muses, all sisters, who were
believed to inspire poets, historians, flutists, dancers,
singers, astronomers, philosophers, and other thinkers
and artists.
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 If one wanted to write a great poem, play a musical instrument
with bravado, or develop a grand scientific or philosophical
theory, he would ask for help from a muse.
 When a poet asked for help, he was said to be “invoking the
muse.” The muse of epic poetry was named Calliope [kuh LY uh
pe].
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2. Telling a story with which readers or listeners are
already familiar; they know the characters, the plot,
and the outcome.
 Most of the great writers of the ancient world—as well as
many great writers in later times, including Shakespeare—
frequently told stories already known to the public. Thus,
in such stories, there were no unexpected plot twists, no
surprise endings.
 If this sounds strange to you, the modern reader and
theatergoer, consider that many of the most popular
motion pictures today are about stories already known to
the public. Examples are The Passion of the Christ, Titanic,
The Ten Commandments, Troy, Spartacus, Pearl Harbor, and
Gettysburg.
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3. Conflict in the celestial realm.
 Divine beings fight and scheme against one
another in the epics of Homer and Virgil, and they
do so in John Milton's Paradise Lost on a grand
scale, with Satan and his forces opposing God and
his forces.
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4. Use of epithets. See "Homeric Epithet,"
above.
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The here and now concerns the Greeks at Troy more
than the afterlife, for they generally believe that the
abode of the dead is dark and dismal.
 Consequently, their main purpose in life is to achieve
immediate rewards and to live for the moment.
 The idea of a heaven that will requite them for good
deeds, whether on or off the battlefield, is of less
importance to them.
 However, they generally do revere the gods of Olympus,
who take sides in the war. Offending the gods could incur
their wrath and affect the outcome of the war.
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Theme 1:.
The wrath of Achilles.
 The main focus of the Iliad is the anger of the
Greek warrior Achilles and the revenge he seeks
against those who wrong him, including the
general of the Greek armies, Agamemnon, and
the Trojan warriors.
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Theme 2:.
Glory and honor are everything.
 The war begins because a Trojan offended Greek
honor by absconding with the wife of a Greek king.
 The war continues—for fully 10 years—in part because
the combatants seek glory on the battlefield.
▪ In this respect, the combatants are like modern athletes,
actors, and politicians who compete for Heisman Trophies,
Academy Awards, and votes.
▪ Achilles withdraws from battle on a point of honor; King
Priam reclaims his son's body for the same reason.
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Theme 3:.
Revenge.
 The Greeks seek revenge against the Trojans because
one of the latter has taken the wife of a Greek king.
 Chryses and Apollo seek revenge because
Agamemnon has defied them.
 Achilles seeks revenge against Agamemnon because
the latter has insulted him.
 Later, after he reenters the battle, Achilles seeks
revenge against the Trojans in general—and Hector in
particular—for the death of Patroclus.
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Theme 4:
.Persistence pays.
 For 10 years, the Greeks fight a foreign war.
 Although they long for their families, although
they have lost many men, they refuse to abandon
the battlefield.
 Ultimately, their pertinacity enables them to gain
the upper hand, setting the stage for ultimate
victory.
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Theme 5:.
Women play important roles in motivating action and
shaping the future.
 Helen is the immediate cause of the Trojan War.
 Chryseis is the cause of the rift between Agamemnon and
Apollo's priest, Chryseis.
 Briseis is the cause of the rift between Agamemnon and
Achilles.
 Athena, Aphrodite, Hera, and the sea-nymph mother of
Achilles—Thetis—all affect the action of The Iliad
significantly.
 Sometimes these goddesses get the better of their male
counterparts.