Among the oldest monuments of literature honorablethe place is taken by a poem dedicated to the last year of the Trojan War. The Iliad, like the Odyssey, is attributed to Homer, the singer, about whom very little information remained. But whoever is the author of the heroic Greek work, it’s important that it came to us and we can enjoy the melodic language, amazing images and comparisons.
Narrator from the past
Perhaps we would never know about the blindGreek singer, if not the titanic work of the latter. Seven cities dispute the honor of being called the birthplace of Homer, scholars are puzzled, was he really blind, did he take part in the war or not, did he write poems that glorified him, or just order them and systematize them. One thing is certain - the narrator knew the events described by him very well, he empathized with all his heroes and was surprisingly fluent in speech. So much so that the poem dedicated to the last year of the Trojan War was long considered an invention, until Heinrich Schliemann unearthed the remnants of a powerful city. Today the poem amazes every reader. But what about the epic, only one story inspires writers and artists, scriptwriters and poets, historians and adventurers.
Trojan War: causes and beginning
As is known, Homer's poem about the Trojan Wardescribes only the last year of the ten-year siege of Ilion. And what was the reason for such a long confrontation? The son of the Trojan king, Paris, stole from Menelaus his wife, the beautiful Helen. When the rulers from all over the world were meeting the girl, her father made all the suitors swear that they would not avenge Elena's choice, but, on the contrary, help her narrowed down. When Paris insulted the Spartan prince, he gathered a large army, all those who had previously promised to help, and went to Troy. The siege of the great city lasted for ten years, but the winner was not determined at all. The poem about the Trojan War tells us that Olympian gods interfered in the fate of the people, who also divided into two warring camps. Finally, the toss was cast, and the Thunderbringer gave victory to the Greeks.
Tenth year of war
Итак, шел десятый год войны.The work of Homer begins with a description of the quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon, after which Achilles decides not to take part in the battles. The poem dedicated to the last year of the Trojan War reminds that, without this hero, according to predictions, the combined Greek army could not have seized the city. Seeing how depressed the Greeks and the Trojans perked up, Achilles friend Patroclus puts on his armor. His idea to cheer up tired warriors was a success, but he himself is dying. Achilles, greatly saddened and angry, decides to take revenge and goes on the attack.
Рассвирепевший герой убивает многих троянцев, forcing them to retreat. Then, having come together in a duel with Hector, the eldest son of Priam and brother of Paris, he kills him. At night, King Ilion comes to Achilles and begs for the body of a Trojan prince. Taking pity on the old man, the son of the goddess Thetis, promises that the Greeks will not go on the attack until Hector is buried. After the touching burial, which Homer describes in great detail, the battles continue. But the poem ends here. And what happened next?
Die is cast
Achilles himself also was not destined to captureIlion. The arrow of Paris, directed by Apollo, falls into the hero's only weak spot - the heel. He is dying. According to the poem dedicated to the last year of the Trojan War, the gods finally decided on the outcome of the battles. They awarded the victory to the Greeks, telling them how to take the city with cunning. But the world will learn about this much later, from the work of Virgil's Aeneid. The Roman poet will tell about the fall of Troy at the hands of the soldiers hidden in a wooden horse, about how Aeneas, having gathered the surviving citizens, is sent to perform the task of the gods on the territory of modern Rome. The Greeks, destroying the once great city, set off. By the way, another poem by Homer tells about the return to the homeland of the hero of this war, Odyssey.
Instead of an afterword
Homer told a lot about the Trojan War, although heand did not describe the whole course of this confrontation. Reading a brilliant work you can learn a lot about the life of Greece in the past, about traditions, about cruelty and nobility, military valor and pure love. The Iliad is an inexhaustible source that is able to fill the minds, thirsting for knowledge.
