Name: The Iliad
Author: Homer

How you explore The Iliad on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
A feed, not a wall of text. 40 characters, 19 places, 19 objects and 8 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
The author’s own words. 52 passages of The Iliad sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Homer wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Homer instead.

9:41

The Cast

Achilles

Main · Achaean

The greatest Greek warrior sits apart by the ships while his anger reshapes the whole war.

Locations

Greek camp

military camp

Where the Greeks pull their ships ashore, a single quarrel over honour nearly loses them the war.

Passage

One man's rage dooms an army, but which insult first awakened the gods?

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The Author’s Pen

Achilles' Wrath

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing! That wrath which hurl’d to Pluto’s gloomy reign The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain; Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore, Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore. Since great Achilles and Atrides strove, Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove! Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power Latona’s son a dire contagion spread, And heap’d the camp with mountains of the dead; The king of men his reverent priest defied, And for the king’s offence the people died.

Reading

A poem about a war opens not with the war but with one man's anger, and names it in the very first word. Before we learn who Achilles is or what he wants, we are told his "wrath" was "to Greece the direful spring / Of woes unnumber'd," the source from which everything else flows. The passage then insists on the cost before the cause: souls sent early to death, bodies left for "devouring dogs and hungry vultures" while it circles back to ask how the quarrel began. The last line lands the injustice plainly: "for the king's offence the people died," the ruler sins and the ordinary men pay.

World Index

The Plot

The Wrath of AchillesDuels and a Broken TruceHector and AndromacheThe Tide TurnsThe Death of PatroclusThe Return of AchillesThe Death of HectorPriam and the Ransom

The Cast

AchillesHectorPatroclusAgamemnonPriamAndromacheThetisHelenParisBriseisChrysesChryseisApolloAthenaZeusHeraAphroditeHephaestusHermesOdysseusAjaxNestorMenelausDiomedesPhoenixHecubaAstyanaxSarpedonGlaucusAeneasAutomedonIrisPoseidonAresCalchasPolydamasAntilochusPandarusDolonEuphorbus

Locations

Achilles’ tentBattlefield before TroyFuneral shore / Greek funeral groundGreek campGreek shipsGreek wall and trenchHector’s houseHephaestus’ forgeMount IdaOlympusParis’ chamberPriam’s palaceRiver Scamander / XanthusRoad from Troy to Achilles’ tentSea / Thetis’ realmTemple of Athena in TroyTrojan campTroyWalls of Troy / Scaean Gates

Objects of Note

Achilles’ horses and chariotAchilles’ lyreAchilles’ new armourAchilles’ old armourAgamemnon’s sceptreAjax’s shieldApollo’s aegisChryses’ ransomDiomedes and Glaucus’ exchanged armourFuneral pyreHector’s bodyHector's funeral bierHector’s helmetHera’s girdlePandarus’ bowPatroclus’ bodyPriam’s ransom giftsPriam’s wagonShield of Achilles

Core Concepts

Bodies are owed memory and ritualHonour can bind a community or break itLife persists inside the image of warMortality gives heroic life its terrible brightnessRage begins in injury but demands a limitSpeech can wound, fail, and healSubstitution cannot carry another lifeSupplication tests whether power can recognize vulnerabilityThe gods intensify human responsibilityWar turns public glory into private loss

The Author's Pen

Atrides Refuses the PriestApollo’s Plague ArrowsThe Oath of WithdrawalMinerva Stays AchillesAchilles Laments to the SeaThe Goddess Hears Her SonJove’s Irrevocable NodThe Deluding DreamUlysses Rebukes ThersitesHector Hears the ChallengeHector Upbraids ParisHelen Before PriamAtrides Curses HeavenVenus Saves The PrinceThe Arrow Takes WingPallas Fires TydidesHector at the Scaean GateTheano’s Vain PrayerHector Rebukes ParisHector Fears Andromache’s CaptivityHector Prays for His SonAjax Draws First BloodJove Weighs Greece and TroyAgamemnon's Gifts And OathLife Beyond BribesPhoenix Pleads to StayAjax Rebukes AchillesHector Breaks the GatesAjax Defends the ShipsAchilles Questions Patroclus’ TearsAchilles Charges PatroclusAchilles Rallies the MyrmidonsSarpedon’s Last CommandApollo Stops PatroclusThe God Strikes BehindAjax Guards the Dead HeroAchilles Hears of PatroclusThetis Mourns AchillesThe Shield's Two CitiesHere My Anger EndsTears for PatroclusXanthus Foretells Achilles DoomAchilles Before the FloodPriam Pleads for HectorNo Oath Nor PactAchilles Denies Hector BurialAndromache Sees Hector DraggedPatroclus Asks One GraveApollo Guards HectorHeroes Felt As ManHector's Funeral Rites

Plot point 01

The Wrath of Achilles

When Agamemnon seizes his war-prize Briseis, the greatest Greek warrior Achilles withdraws from battle in furious pride.

Objects of Note

Agamemnon’s sceptre

Whoever holds it may speak and be obeyed, even when he is wrong.

The Cast

Hector

Main · Trojan

Troy’s defender stands between the city gates and the army that will remember him as a body.

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The Iliad

Homer

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 127 classics in the Literah library

The Iliad feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of The Iliad

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

The Wrath of Achilles
Duels and a Broken Truce
Hector and Andromache
The Tide Turns
The Death of Patroclus
The Return of Achilles
The Death of Hector
Priam and the Ransom

The author's pen in The Iliad

The passages themselves, Homer's own words, as Literah maps it.

Achilles' Wrathch. 1
Atrides Refuses the Priestch. 1
Apollo’s Plague Arrowsch. 1
The Oath of Withdrawalch. 1
Minerva Stays Achillesch. 1
Achilles Laments to the Seach. 1
The Goddess Hears Her Sonch. 1
Jove’s Irrevocable Nodch. 1
The Deluding Dreamch. 2
Ulysses Rebukes Thersitesch. 2
Hector Hears the Challengech. 3
Hector Upbraids Parisch. 3
Helen Before Priamch. 3
Atrides Curses Heavench. 3
Venus Saves The Princech. 3
The Arrow Takes Wingch. 4
Pallas Fires Tydidesch. 5
Hector at the Scaean Gatech. 6
Theano’s Vain Prayerch. 6
Hector Rebukes Parisch. 6

The characters of The Iliad

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

Achillesmajor
Hectormajor
Patroclusmajor
Agamemnonmajor
Priammajor
Andromachemajor
Thetismajor
Helenmajor
Parismajor
Briseissupporting
Chrysessupporting
Chryseissupporting
Apollosupporting
Athenasupporting
Zeussupporting
Herasupporting

The locations in The Iliad

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

Greek campmilitary camp
Achilles’ tentwarrior tent
Greek shipsbeached fleet
Battlefield before Troybattlefield
Troycity
Walls of Troy / Scaean Gatescity walls and gate
Priam’s palaceroyal palace
Olympusdivine dwelling
Sea / Thetis’ realmdivine sea realm
Funeral shore / Greek funeral groundfuneral ground
Road from Troy to Achilles’ tentnight road
Temple of Athena in Troytemple
Hector’s househousehold
Paris’ chamberprivate chamber

The core concepts in The Iliad

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

Rage begins in injury but demands a limit
Honour can bind a community or break it
War turns public glory into private loss
Bodies are owed memory and ritual
The gods intensify human responsibility
Supplication tests whether power can recognize vulnerability
Speech can wound, fail, and heal
Substitution cannot carry another life
Mortality gives heroic life its terrible brightness
Life persists inside the image of war

The objects of note in The Iliad

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

Agamemnon’s sceptre
Chryses’ ransom
Achilles’ old armour
Achilles’ new armour
Shield of Achilles
Hector’s helmet
Patroclus’ body
Hector’s body
Priam’s ransom gifts
Funeral pyre
Achilles’ lyre
Pandarus’ bow
Ajax’s shield
Diomedes and Glaucus’ exchanged armour

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How you explore The Iliad on Literah

The plot of The Iliad

The author's pen in The Iliad

The characters of The Iliad

The locations in The Iliad

The core concepts in The Iliad

The objects of note in The Iliad

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The Iliad in the Classics collections

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