The Iliad

The Iliad does not tell the whole Trojan War or the Trojan Horse story. It focuses on a short period in the war's tenth year, centered on Achilles' rage after his conflict with Agamemnon.

Achilles withdraws because Agamemnon takes Briseis, a captive woman awarded to Achilles as a war prize. His absence from battle leads to major Greek losses and sets up Patroclus's death.

Achilles kills Hector outside the walls of Troy after Hector kills Patroclus. The poem ends not with Troy's fall, but with Priam recovering Hector's body and the Trojans mourning him.

Richmond Lattimore, Robert Fagles, Stanley Lombardo, and Emily Wilson all have widely read English translations. Wilson's Iliad translation was published in 2023, following her 2017 Odyssey translation.