The Iliad

The oldest and greatest of Western epics, the Iliad tells of a few weeks in the final year of the Trojan War, centering on the rage of the hero Achilles and its terrible cost. Gods meddle in human affairs, warriors win glory and die, and the doomed city of Troy edges toward its fall. Beneath the battle scenes lies a profound meditation on mortality, honor, grief, and the fragile beauty of human life. Composed nearly three thousand years ago, it stands at the fountainhead of European literature and still speaks with astonishing power about war and what it does to those who wage it.