What Epic Poems Are About The Trojan War?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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What epic are about the Trojan War? Iliad, epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. It takes the Trojan War as its subject, though the Greek warrior Achilles is its primary focus. Frontispiece of Homer's

The Iliad

, translated by John Ogilby, 1660; engraving by Wenceslas Hollar.

Which two epic poems are about the Trojan War?

  • Cypria or Cyprian Chants. …
  • Aethiopis. …
  • Little Iliad. …
  • Iliupersis. …
  • Nostoi. …
  • Telegony.

What epics cover the Trojan War?


The Little Iliad

, believed to have been written by Lesches, covers the events after Achilles' death including the building of the Trojan Horse. The Iliupersis covers the sack of Troy by the Greeks. The Nostoi (“returns”) covers the return home of the main Greek force and the events contingent upon their arrival.

What famous poem is based on the Trojan War?


The Iliad

: An Ancient Epic Poem About The Trojan War.

What epic poem contains the story of the Trojan Horse?

Instead, it's a later, Roman poem,

Virgil's Aeneid

, which gives us the most sustained and dramatic account of wily Odysseus' plan to deceive the Trojans by turning up at the sturdy gates of the city of Troy with a gift of a large wooden horse, in which – unbeknownst to the Trojans who welcome the equine gift into their …

What is the epic poem about the aftermath of the Trojan War called?

Tradition says that a great blind poet named Homer wrote

the Iliad and Odyssey

, the epic poems about the Trojan War and its aftermath.

Who composed two poems about the Trojan War?


Homer

is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two hugely influential epic poems of ancient Greece. If Homer did in fact compose the works, he is one of the greatest literary artists in the world, and, through these poems, he affected Western standards and ideas.

What book tells about the Trojan War?


The Iliad

‘ tells the tale of the ten year siege of Troy by the Greeks, the exploits of King Agamemnon and the legendary Achilles, and the infamous wooden horse invented by Odysseus.

Is The Iliad based on the Trojan War?

The Iliad is an epic poem written by the Greek poet Homer.

It tells the story of the last year of the Trojan War fought between the city of Troy and the Greeks

. Achilles – Achilles is the main character and the greatest warrior in the world. He leads the Myrmidons against the Trojans.

Why is it called Iliad?

Homer's Iliad is usually thought of as the first work of European literature, and many would say, the greatest. It tells part of the saga of the city of Troy and the war that took place there. In fact the Iliad takes its name from “Ilios”, an ancient Greek word for “Troy”, situated in what is Turkey today.

Why is The Iliad an epic poem?

The Homeric poems (the Iliad and the Odyssey) are epic, because

our concept of epic comes from Homeric poems

. If that sounds too circular, then just bear in mind that the Iliad is an extremely long narrative poem, which deals with the heroic actions of mortals, gods, and demi-gods.

Is The Iliad and Odyssey the same?


While The Iliad is an epic tale of war and battle, The Odyssey is the story of a journey, a hero's heroic effort to return to his home

.

Who is the real hero of The Iliad?


Hector

is the true hero of Homer's Iliad. Although Achilles and Hector are both leaders of men, Hector leads with a mature sense that gives his men reason to respect him.

Is the Trojan Horse in The Odyssey?

The story of the Trojan Horse is well-known.

First mentioned in the Odyssey

, it describes how Greek soldiers were able to take the city of Troy after a fruitless ten-year siege by hiding in a giant horse supposedly left as an offering to the goddess Athena.

How does Homer describe the Trojan War?

The Iliad is Homer's his account of the Trojan War. It is

a poem about rage and thinking about rage

. Homer talks about a specific kind of rage, the rage of Achilles who, as a Greek, was having war rage against his Trojan foes but more specifically it is Achilles rage at Agamemnon.

What was Homer's epic poem about?

The epic is a sequel to Homer's Iliad,

the story of the Trojan War

. The Odyssey follows Odysseus, one of the Greek leaders, on his journey back to his kingdom in Ithaca after the fall of Troy.

Is The Iliad a true story?

As the historical sources – Herodotus and Eratosthenes – show,

it was generally assumed to have been a real event

. According to Homer's Iliad, the conflict between the Greeks – led by Agamemnon, King of Mycenae – and the Trojans – whose king was Priam – took place in the Late Bronze Age, and lasted 10 years.

What is the main theme of The Iliad?


Love and friendship, fate and free will, and honor

are the main themes of Homer's The Iliad. All three themes follow Achilles and the other main characters of the epic poem.

Is Helen of Troy a real story?

Helen of Troy is a mythical figure from Greek mythology and literature, notably Homer's Iliad.

She was not a real person

.

What was the Iliad and how is it related to The Odyssey?


The Iliad, set during the Trojan War, tells the story of the wrath of Achilles. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus as he travels home from the war.

How is Troy different from the Iliad?

The most apparent difference Troy has from The Iliad is its

absence of Olympian gods

, the Greek pantheon of deities who reside on Mount Olympus. In The Iliad, Homer emphasizes the role of the gods in the Trojan War. It seems that, at every turn in the story, the outcomes are predetermined by the gods.

Who was the hero of the Trojan War?

In Greek mythology,

Achilles

was the strongest warrior and hero in the Greek army during the Trojan War. He was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and Thetis, a sea nymph.

Is The Odyssey about the Trojan War?

Odysseus is probably best known as the eponymous hero of the Odyssey. This epic describes his travails, which lasted for 10 years, as

he tries to return home after the Trojan War

and reassert his place as rightful king of Ithaca.

Why is there no Trojan Horse in The Iliad?


Odysseus's plan called for one man to remain outside the horse; he would act as though the Greeks had abandoned him, leaving the horse as a gift for the Trojans

. An inscription was engraved on the horse reading: “For their return home, the Greeks dedicate this offering to Athena”.

Who wrote about the Trojan War?

The main source for our knowledge of the Trojan War is

Homer's Iliad

(written sometime in the 8th century BCE) where he recounts 52 days during the final year of the ten-year conflict. The Greeks imagined the war to have occurred some time in the 13th century BCE.

What was Helen of Troy based on?

Helen of Troy, Greek Helene, in Greek legend,

the most beautiful woman of Greece and the indirect cause of the Trojan War

. She was daughter of Zeus, either by Leda or by Nemesis, and sister of the Dioscuri. As a young girl, she was carried off by Theseus, but she was rescued by her brothers.

Did any Trojans survive the fall of Troy?

The more common version, however, made Aeneas the leader of the Trojan survivors after Troy was taken by the Greeks. In any case,

Aeneas survived the war

, and his figure was thus available to compilers of Roman myth.

Who defeated Troy?

In legend, the city of Troy was besieged for 10 years and eventually conquered by a Greek army led by

King Agamemnon

.

Who Killed Achilles?

Achilles is killed by an arrow, shot by

the Trojan prince Paris

. In most versions of the story, the god Apollo is said to have guided the arrow into his vulnerable spot, his heel.

Who died at the end of Iliad?

The death of

the Trojan hero Hector

becomes a turning point in Homer's epic poem The Iliad. This work from Ancient Greece tells the story of the ending of the Trojan War, which lasted for ten years in total. This war was between the city of Troy and the combined might of several Greek kings known as the Achaeans.

Is the Iliad hard to read?

Since the Iliad has been translated into modern English, people often find it

surprisingly easy to read

. Look for a translation that includes footnotes, a glossary, and other helpful features that may help to make the reading process even easier for you.

Why is it called the Odyssey?

Odysseus – The Trickster Hero Roman name Ulysses

Who started Trojan War?

According to classical sources, the war began

after the abduction (or elopement) of Queen Helen of Sparta by the Trojan prince Paris

. Helen's jilted husband Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, to lead an expedition to retrieve her.

Which epic poem is the longest?


The Mahabharata

is one of the longest epic poems ever written. It has over 200,000 verse lines, 1.8 million words and it is believed that it could have taken over 600 years to write! The oldest surviving piece of text is believed to be dated from 400BCE.

Should you read The Iliad or Odyssey first?

Juan Francisco Although they're not exactly sequential,

I'd recommend you to read The Iliad first, then The Odyssey

. The Iliad provides you huge context, involving the Trojan War, plenty of characters (including Odysseus), and the cosmovision of Ancient Greece.

Is The Odyssey easier than The Iliad?

So far,

I think the Odyssey is a much easier read than The Iliad

. This is not to be confused about my opinion of which book is better. I find it easier to keep track of its characters and storylines because this poem seems to move in a more linear fashion.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.