Lliad is the Greek name for the city of Troy.
This work, which integrates the western canon as much as The Odyssey, inspired several writers of the classical period and its presence was mandatory in the basic educational curriculum of Greece and, later, also of ancient Rome.
The Iliad addresses an episode of the War known as the Achilles' Wrath, referring only to some myths and events connected with the story of Troy, already incorporated into the knowledge of the Greeks. The reader, therefore, must have some command over the Trojan War to better understand this poem. It was triggered by the kidnapping of Helena, consort of Menelaus, king of Sparta, by Paris, son of the Trojan king, Priam.
The battles are commanded by Agamemnon, sovereign of Mycenae, brother of the outraged king. The Greeks advance against Troy and besiege the city, demanding the return of Helena. War, however, is just the scenario chosen to portray an even more painful and serious confrontation, which unfolds in the human soul, here represented by Achilles' troubled passions.
The Greek hero faces Agamemnon because of a Trojan slave, who was part of the spoils of war. In the division of these goods, the handmaid falls to Achilles, but the king takes her for himself. This episode provokes the wrath of Achilles, who refuses to fight. This decision weakens the Greek army and the Trojans gain an advantage. The hero's best friend, Pároclo, decides to remain in charge of a detachment, but is killed by Hector, the leader of the opponents.
Unhappy and overwhelmed by the fury, Achilles returns to war, eliminates Hector, and then, moved by compassion, returns the body to the father of the Trojan hero so that he can be buried. The famous event known as ‘Trojan Horse’ is also represented in the Iliad, culminating in the destruction of the city of Priam. Homer brilliantly deals with human contradictions, the terrible decisions made at the peak, freedom of choice, the interventions of the gods and the results of his orientations. The real war, here, has as its stage the intimate sphere of Man.
