The important thing to remember about The Iliad and the Odyssey are that they are great works, and merit the classic name that get attached to all great works of literature. Historians, such as Victor Davis Hanson, have come to understand clearly the relationship between the ancient Greeks (and Persians) and war. Thousands of years later, this relationship has been beclouded by schools of history, poets, artists, musicians, and the unfortunate commercialization of war as seen in Hollywood movies
"The Iliad and the Odyssey were composed almost 3,000 years ago, and they are still constantly translated, imitated, dramatized and above all-read. In a world in which few things stay in fashion for more than a single season, that is indeed a surprising
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The Iliad is the first great book, and the first great book about the suffering and loss of war. We love to tell stories about war.
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Why is the first book a book about war? Perhaps because war is inextricably bound up with humanity's urge to tell stories. Civilisation – with its settlements, its limited lines, its hierarchies – breeds conflict and narrative alike. In The Iliad, two characters have the narrative urge
During the Greek Dark Age, poets called bards traveled to different poli. The bards told stories in the form of long poems called epics. People would often pay to hear the bards describe stories of the distant past. The bards would sing many of the epic poems while accompanied by a stringed instrument called a lyre. The musical epics were called lyric poetry
c): How does Homeric poetry possess “authority” in terms of subject matter, tone, style etc.? why is the Iliad important?
conclusion : poem is also a reworking of about 200 lines of verse from book 24 of Homer's Iliad – therefore evoking an ancient Greek world of epic tales with godlike heroes & monumental battles. Robson .J. (2010) Homer's Iliad. The Open University