Essay about Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer - 1702 Words

An epic poem is a long narrative poem, normally having to do with a serious subject while covering heroic deeds and events important for a culture or nation. Homer, the author of Iliad and the Odyssey, is perhaps the most famous and notable writer of epics. Inspired directly from the stories that had been passed down orally over the centuries, Homer wrote these epic poems retelling the stories of the last year of the Trojan War and Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War. These epics are filled with supernatural events such as gods lending their power to a hero, allowing him to slay row after row of troops and gods going directly onto the battlefield to help turn the tide in a battle. The grandeur of these events are indicative of†¦show more content†¦However, Achilles returned to battle with incredible wrath after his companion Patroclus, who was wearing Achilles armor to intimidate and drive the Trojans away from the Achaeans’ ships, was slain by Apollo . Achilles sought out Hector, the incredibly skilled commander of the Trojan army, and killed him in rage. He then continued to kill more Trojans but was shot by Paris in the ankle, his only weak spot, which resulted in his death. While it seemed as if the war was at a stalemate, Odysseus of Ithaca devised a plan for the Achaeans to infiltrate the walls of Troy while contained inside a massive wooden horse, a fake gift to the Trojans. This plan succeeded as the Achaeans attacked Troy from inside the walls and burned the city to the ground, leaving the city in ruins. This marks the end of the Trojan War as told by Homer in the Iliad. The stories told of the Trojan War were widely accepted as fact for many centuries after the age of Homer. However, as more people sought out actual proof of the events and none was found, the Trojan War and Troy began to be accepted as a myth and legend. This continued up until Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of Troy in the early 1870s. Determined to find the lost city of Troy on the Greek mainland where the conquerors of Troy lived but without any previous experience in archaeology, Schliemann used the Homeric poems as guides to pinpoint the locationShow MoreRelatedHomer s The Iliad And The Odyssey Essay1590 Words   |  7 PagesOne of the greatest and highly esteemed authors throughout all of history is known simply as Homer. Homer is the author who gave a visible, written form to two of the greatest and highly respected epic stories of the world of the ancient Greeks, the Iliad and The Odyssey. However, none are certain of the time in which Homer lived. It is believed now that, if Homer was at all more than myth himself, he did not create the two stories, rather he organized or edited the poems in a written form (Bloom)Read MoreAnalysis Of Homer s The Iliad And The Odysseys1428 Words   |  6 PagesHomer’s The Iliad and The Odysseys are depicted on the vases. 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