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Full title
Author Homer
Type of work Poem
Genre Epic
Language Ancient Greek
Time and place written Unknown, but probably mainland Greece, around 750 b.c.
Date of first publication Unknown
Publisher Unknown
Narrator The poet, who declares himself to be the medium through which one or many of the Muses speak
Point of view The narrator speaks in the third person. An omniscient narrator (he has access to every character’s mind), he frequently gives insight into the thoughts and feelings of even minor characters, gods and mortals alike.
Tone Awe-inspired, ironic, lamenting, pitying
Tense Past
Setting (time) Bronze Age (around the twelfth or thirteenth century b.c.);
Setting (place) Troy (a city in what is now northwestern Turkey) and its immediate environs
Protagonist Achilles
Major conflict Agamemnon’s demand for Achilles’ war prize, the maiden Briseis, wounds Achilles’ pride; Achilles’ consequent refusal to fight causes the Achaeans to suffer greatly in their battle against the Trojans.
Rising action Hector’s assault on the Achaean ships; the return of Patroclus to combat; the death of Patroclus
Climax Achilles’ return to combat turns the tide against the Trojans once and for all and ensures the fated fall of Troy to which the poet has alluded throughout the poem.
Falling action The retreat of the Trojan army; Achilles’ revenge on Hector; the Achaeans’ desecration of Hector’s corpse
Themes The glory of war; military values over family life; the impermanence of human life and its creations
Motifs Armor; burial; fire
Symbols The Achaean ships; the shield of Achilles
Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is prominent in
