"The Iliad" (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. ... Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous piety, and fashioned this into a compelling founding myth or national epic that at once tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as desce...

• Word Count: 8864
• Approx Pages: 35
• Grade Level: High School

Recent studies have begun to see the Homeric epics in the light of other epic traditions, notably epics from Mesopotamia, and have begun to look at striking similarities. ... Both of the main heroes share many similar characteristics, including a dynamic outlook on life and death centered on the death of their heroic comrades, Patroclus and Enkidu, respectively. The two semi-divine heroes have many corresponding life-events and characteristics, and are also both very concerned with their own mortalities, but not quite in the same way. ... Comparisons between various characters abound in near-e...

• Word Count: 4256
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate