These two foundational epics of Western literature follow the greatest heroes of ancient Greece across decades of warfare, adventure, and divine intervention. The Iliad chronicles the brutal ten-year Trojan War, focusing on the mighty Achilles, noble Hector, and the armies clashing over Helen of Troy, while gods above take sides in the conflict. The Odyssey follows the cunning Odysseus as he struggles for another ten years to return home to Ithaca after Troy's fall, facing monsters, enchantresses, and the wrath of Poseidon, while his faithful wife Penelope fends off suitors and his son Telemachus searches for him. Both epics explore themes of honor, fate, mortality, and the cost of glory. Through vivid battle scenes, intimate character moments, and encounters with the supernatural—from the Cyclops to Circe to the Sirens—these tales establish archetypes of heroism, loyalty, and human struggle against impossible odds. Written in dactylic hexameter, they blend martial grandeur with emotional depth, creating timeless stories of war's devastation and the yearning for home that resonate across millennia.
