Homer, Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY: Penguin, 1990.

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The Greatest War Story Ever Told

World literature and art record a great number of works that portray warfare . These include stories from the Medieval Period which usually tell about the gallantry of King Arthur 's knights , the gruesome holocaust films that present the struggles of the Jews inside the German camps , the mind-stirring films about the Vietnam war , revealing the meaninglessness of war , up to the Japanese anime cartoons that feature ninja characters fighting for justice and honor . Above all these stories of war , however

, one story occupies the highest niche in presenting chivalry and culture : the Iliad by Homer (Fagles 1990 . With its depiction of the courage and strength of ancient Greek characters together with other literary elements employed , The Iliad ' is undoubtedly the greatest war story ever told in the history of world literature . Analyses of the plot and themes reveal an embodied vision of the Greeks - their attitudes , culture , and heroism

Set in the ancient Mycenaean Greece , the narrative epic tells about the last days of the Trojan war , the infamous yet fictitious war between the Trojans and the Achaeans . Considering authorship of this great epic along with its sequel , The Odyssey ' which is ascribed to the blind poet Homer , readers expect to read with great difficulty and unfamiliarity with the Greek culture . However , in the modern translation by Fagles et al , the author provides an easy read , yet retains the essential elements of the narrative poem . This version allows modern-day readers to...