The Iliad

Iliad is a great long poem which has won much fame due to its epic poem and is one of the earliest known literatures (Silk, 2004).  The poet of the Iliad is known as poet Homer with an unclear historical background. Homer was a blind man who lived and wandered on the Aegean Coast of Asia minor in about 850 B.C. there is some doubt about Homer's existence due to the fact that very little is known about him. Some people suggest that the author of the Iliad was not a man but a group of bards, or a succession of wondering poets each of whom added of his inspiration to the epics. This is because; some argue that Homer's culture exhibited no tradition of written literature at that time and textual analysis

It is also argued at times that was no historical siege of the poet's creation. Many Greek and Latin authors have however referred to the event and they have dated that the Trojan war as having taken place in 1184 B.C (Eratosthenes), 1209/8 B.C (the Parian marble), 1250 B.C (Herodoctus) and 1334/3 B.C. (Douris). The Iliad says that the Trojan War took place in the wildly beautiful Helen. The Greeks are told to have laid a siege to troy in a period of ten years with failure. The siege was afterward lifted and the Greeks sailed away leaving behind the fashioned from wood. The Trojans drew the wooden horse and the same night the Greeks emerged from the Trojan horse.

The Iliad reports that the Greek army outnumbered the Trojans by a factor often to one and also suggests that the Greeks did not blockade the city which was supplied from the sea by its allies and was therefore immune to the deprivations of famine and disease that normally result inhabitants of the town surrendering.  

According to Oliver 1992, Iliad focuses mainly on Achilles and his rage against the Greek commander-in-chief, who had taken a very attractive slave and spoil of war. The greatest warrior Achilles, in this poem follows the advice of his mother and withdraws from battle in revenge and the allied Achaean armies nearly lose the war. The poem is all about a family depicted to have been destroyed by battle. The first word of the poem means wrath and the second one mean sing.  The third word is 'thea' meaning goddess and the goddess featured here is the muse. The first line therefore read, wrath, sing goddess, the wrath of Peleus son Achilles. The poem Iliad has over the years been translated in to English (Silk 2004).

The poem explains how Achilles was killed in war by Paris with a poisoned arrow. The poem's theme according to the Achilles story moves from being filled with anger to becoming more human. In addition, Iliad also deals with issues such as whether honor and glory or long life are higher goods and whether love can make a person more human. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus has been used as an object of fascination by scholars and those interested in homosexuals due to their relationship. Although the poem does not portray the two to have any sexual contact, it is generally assumed that they were lovers. A film on the Iliad was released in 2004 which was directed by German-born Wolfgang Petersen which later received a lot of critics (Oliver, 1992).

In conclusion, Iliad refers to a poem written by poet Homer. It generally talks about war and depicts a family suffering from the consequences of war.  The history of the Iliad has not been well understood and it has been a source of conflicting ideas. Due to the relationship of Achilles and Patroclus, the Iliad has been seen to fascinate homosexuals.