The Iliad: A War Story

The Iliad is an epic poem by which all the other epic poems are defined. It tells the story of the War of Troy that was fought by men and gods alike. Curiously it only covers part of the last year of the siege that the Greeks had imposed. That year was the last of ten long years,but the poem does not finish with the fall of Troy: it ends with the telling of the funerals celebrated for two great warriors, one on the Greek side and the other on the Trojan side. 

It is a curious thing that Homer, the author of The Iliad, decided not to cover any of the events of the previous years or how the war ended (which we know thanks to other sources but still only partially). Homer seemed to be content with telling what happened when the greatest Greek warrior, Achilles, is infuriated because of an offense made by the Greek leader called Agamemnon. Secretly Patroklos (Achilles's best friend) takes Achilles's armor and fights along the Greeks until he encounters Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior who confuses Patroklos with Achilles and kills Patroklos. This fact unchains Achilles's wrath against Troy once again, but this time everyone, even himself, will pay a price most costly.
A must-read book, one that helps understand the emotions that drove the men of ancient times, not very different from those that drive the men of modern times.