How did this happen? The fact is that, even though the Iliad stands at the beginning of one tradition— the written tradition—it also comes at the end of an entirely different tradition. One way of thinking about Homer's Iliad is as a survivor of a form of purely oral poetry passed down from generation to generation without ever being written down.

Iliad Summary. Buy Study Guide. In the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, Chryses, a priest of Apollo, attempts to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaeans, who has taken her captive while on a raid. When Agamemnon treats him roughly and refuses the ransom, Apollo is angered and brings plague on the Achaeans.

The Iliad Summary. Next. Book 1. The Iliad recounts a brief but crucial period of the Trojan War, a conflict between the city of Troy and its allies against a confederation of Greek cities, collectively known as the Achaeans. The conflict began when Paris, the son of Troy’s king Priam, seized a willing Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, ...

The Iliad. Nine years after the start of the Trojan War, the Greek (“Achaean”) army sacks Chryse, a town allied with Troy. During the battle, the Achaeans capture a pair of beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean forces, takes Chryseis as his prize, and Achilles, the Achaeans’ greatest warrior, claims Briseis.

Summary. The poet invokes a muse to aid him in telling the story of the rage of Achilles, the greatest Greek hero to fight in the Trojan War. The narrative begins nine years after the start of the war, as the Achaeans sack a Trojan-allied town and capture two beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaean ...