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The Iliad stands at the very beginning of European literature, its first epic poem, and, for some readers, it remains one of the greatest of poems ever. In this module we will focus first upon the Iliad as exemplary of the epic genre, its techniques of characterization, and its depiction of a heroic world of warfare, martial values and their impact on larger society. In the last third of the module, the notion that the Iliad was the 'Bible of the Greeks' brings us to some moments in the Homeric legacy: to poets (Sophocles, Euripides, Virgil) who depict later events of the Trojan War; to philosophers (Plato) who sought to replace Homeric myth with a fundamentally different world-view; and to historians both ancient and modern who try to relate Homer’s narrative to actual events. Our goals are to appreciate the Iliad as a rich work of literature, and to understand some ways in which its influence endured through antiquity, and beyond.
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THE FALL OF TROY: THE ILIAD THROUGHOUT THE AGES
