Homer's epic poem about the Trojan War — specifically the wrath of Achilles and its consequences — depicting the siege of Troy through the lens of divine politics, individual heroism, and the pathos of mortality — the foundational text of Western literature.
Creates the West's primary meditation on war, glory, and mortality — the Iliad refuses to glorify war without also showing its horror, and Achilles's choice between a long unheroic life and a short glorious death remains the paradigm case for the examination of heroic values.
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