The IliadAlthough the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning. Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' looming death and the sack of Troy, although the narrative ends before these events take place. However, as these events are prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, when it reaches an end the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War. The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer. Along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century BC. Recent statistical modelling based on language evolution gives a date of 760–710 BC. In the modern vulgate (the standard accepted version), the Iliad contains 15,693 lines; it is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects. |
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Achaians Achilles address'd Æneas Agamemnon Ajax answer'd Antilochus Apollo Argos arm'd armor arms Asius Atreus Atrides battle beneath bespake bold brave brazen bright call'd ceased chariot Chief coursers daughter dauntless death deep Deiphobus Diomede divine dread Eurypylus eyes falchion father fell fierce fight fill'd fire fleet flew force glorious glory Goddess godlike Gods Grecians Greece Greeks hand hath heart heaven Hector hero hurl'd Idomeneus ILIAD Ilium illustrious immortal Jove Jove's Juno King lance lest loud Lycian Mars Meantime Menelaus Meriones Minerva Myrmidons Neptune Nestor noble numerous o'er Olympian once Pallas pass'd Patroclus Peleus Phœbus pierced Priam renown'd replied return'd rush'd Sarpedon Saturnian Jove seized shield ships side sire slain slay slew smote sons spake spear sprang steeds stood swift Telamonian Ajax tent Teucer thee thence Thetis thine thou art thou hast thou shalt thyself Trojans turn'd Tydeus Tydides Ulysses valiant warlike warrior wing'd wounded