Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest
epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700
years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and
towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can
justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and
long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic
campaigns, the heroism and treachery of its combatants unmatched
in song and story. Driven by fierce passions and loyalties, men
and gods battle to a devastating conclusion. The Odyssey
chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass
through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his
beloved wife. Though the stormy god of the ocean has sworn
vengeance against him, and witches and sirens try to lure him
off course, Odysseus is clever and has the brilliant goddess
Athena on his side. Homer (9th or 8th century B.C.) is the
presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two greatest
epic poems of ancient Greece. Virtuall