The Iliad

The Odyssey

Literature

The Iliad is composed of 15,693 hexameters (lines of verse), and is divided into 24 books corresponding to each letter of the Greek alphabet - alpha to omega. It narrates the es the anger of Achilles and takes place over 51 days during the tenth and final year of the Trojan War. The poem takes its name from the city of Troy, which is also known as Ilium.

The Odyssey is composed of 12,109 hexameters and is also divided into 24 in the same manner as the Iliad.The Odyssey takes place after the Trojan War has been won by the Achaeans, as the Greeks are referred to by Homer. The Odyssey is concerned with the nostos (journey) of the Greek hero Odysseus and the troubles that he faces on his way home from Troy, foiled on his way by godly interventions, especially those of Poseidon,encounter with sirens, and many other situations he had to face.