The Iliad Vs. The Odyseey

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The Iliad and the Odyssey The Iliad and the Odyssey are two very well known Greek poems that have been passed down from generation to generation. These two poems are regarded as the greatest Greek poems ever written. Both written by Homer, who is depicted by scholars as a travelling blind man, he spread his poems throughout the land. Since there obviously were no books in ancient Greece, most stories and written works were spread by public readings. This is how Homer “gained his fame.” Many other scholars also believe the idea that “Homer” could have meant any travelling scholar, as there were no written records back then. The two poems are talking about a period in Greek history during the Trojan War. The Iliad is a lengthy poem about the Trojan War, and its’ ending. The poem starts out with the Achaean army taking over the town of Chryse and continued to tell the story of a greedy leader in the Achaean army, Agamemnon, and how he makes enemies with one of his best fighters, Achillies. The story goes on to tell about how the gods toy around with the humans, and take sides over each other that other gods may not like. This intervention by gods is a frequent occurrence in both works. The gods occasionally have wars between themselves too, such as when Zeus helps the Trojans in the war against the Greeks, after an appeal to him by Thetis, Achilles’ mother. Zeus’s wife, Hera is loyal to the Greeks, and the two of them have a little fight. The battle between gods is also apparent in the Odyssey when Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseys from the island of Calypso. Poseidon, the god of the sea, see’s this happening and wrecks Odysseus’s ship by way of sending a nasty storm. The wanderings of Odysseus bring him across many weird, but quite interesting creatures and lands. In book IX, Odysseus and his men were swept to the land named Ismarus, which is the

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