762 BCE · Homer
The Iliad
A ten year war, one man’s rage, and the gods watching it all burn.
Homer
The Iliad
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The Iliad is not really about the Trojan War. It is about 51 days inside it, and what happens when the greatest warrior on the battlefield decides to stop fighting. When Achilles withdraws in fury, the Greeks unravel, the Trojans advance, and the gods play favourites from the sky. Homer’s epic is raw, devastating, and startlingly human, full of soldiers who are terrified, kings who are foolish, and heroes who know they are going to die and fight anyway.
The companion
Summary
What happens, and how the book is built.
Read summary →Analysis
Close reading. What this book is really doing.
Read analysis →Chapters
Chapter by chapter — short notes, no fluff.
Read chapters →About the Writer
The human behind the book.
Read about the writer →Themes
The ideas it keeps circling back to.
Read themes →Characters
The cast — who they are, and what they carry.
Read characters →Symbols & Motifs
Recurring objects and images — and what they carry.
Read symbols & motifs →Quotes
Passages worth saving.
Read quotes →Lines to Ponder
Single lines worth sitting with.
Read lines to ponder →