The+Iliad+and+The+Odyssey

//The Iliad and The Odyssey//  Are two epic poems written by Homer a Greek poet around 9th century BCE. The Iliad is about the great war between the Greeks and the Trojans that occurs when Paris a Trojan prince steals the beautiful wife,Helen, of Menelaus, king of Sparta. The Greeks then combine forces and go to Troy. Greeks seem to be winning the battle because they have a nearly immortal warrior named Achilles. Achilles was immune to attacks in any area except his heel and Paris is able to kill him by shooting him in the heel with an arrow. The Greeks are then demoralized. A Greek commander named Odysseus, king of Ithica, then devises a plan to get into Troy .The plan is to build a giant wooden horse and fill it with Greek men, then give it to the Trojans as a false sign of surrender. The Trojans fall for this hoax and are attacked by the men inside the horse once the horse is inside the gates of Troy. The Greeks massacre Troy and win the war. The Odyssey is about the journey of Odysseus back to his home Ithica he runs into several trials on his way. He seems to be cursed by the gods and soon lands on an Island where a cyclops eats many of his men. He is then captured by the cyclops but eventually gets the cyclops drunk and escapes. He faces many other spells of bad luck like witches and sea monsters. He then ends up on an Island of the nymph Calypso who keeps him there as he lover for seven years. She then is convinced by the gods to let him leave. At his home in Ithica people think that Odysseus is dead so suiters move into the home to try to convince his wife to marry one of them. She does not believe that he is dead and keeps the suiters doing trivial contests to win her favor. Odysseus then arrives at Ithica and disguises himself as and old man. His wife has promised to marry the man who can shoot an arrow through three small rings and hit a target. None of the suiters can complete this task. When Odysseus disguised as an old man completes this task he reveals himself and reclaims his throne.

Written By Hank Rudolph