The Iliad & The Odyssey

By Homer, Samuel Butler (translator),

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Iliad & The Odyssey as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This epic by Homer has a great impact on epic culture.

Writing such an epic in the 700-800 BC era is mind-blowing, War of Troy which we used to read in comic books and movies has so well narrated citing the bravery of Greek and Trojan Heroes in the Iliad.

Everyone should read about the heroes of Iliad epic King Agamemnon, warrior Achilles and Odyssey’s Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca and his return journey about the Trojan War. Greek mythology is always a great source of information about the ancient time wars and treaties.

These are epic poems that have been presented in the courts and amphitheaters from ancient Greece into the modern era. I first read The Iliad as a high-school summer-reading assignment. Later in college, I read The Odyssey for personal entertainment.

The Iliad begins during the siege of Troy (c.1200 BCE) and describes the personality conflicts among the Achaean besiegers as well as detailed descriptions of army and personal combat in this era. The Odyssey is the story of the return of the King of Ithaca and his retinue from the war. They inadvertently offend Poseidon which results in ten additional…

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