THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO ANCIENT GREECE
The Mycenaeans in literature: The Iliad and The Odyssey
How well do you remember your high school literature courses? Along with the usual fare of Steinbeck, Shakespeare, and Hemingway, you may have studied two ancient Greek epics called The Iliad and The Odyssey. Both were written by the Greek poet Homer.
The Iliad tells the story of the Greek siege of Troy, a city located in Asia Minor. The Mycenaean King Agamemnon led a Greek army against the Trojans after Paris, a prince of Troy, kidnapped the wife of a Spartan king—the legendary Helen of Troy.
Some archaeological evidence corroborates the major aspects of Homer’s epic. If the Greek siege of Troy did take place, then it likely occurred around 1250 B.C. Nevertheless, Homer’s Iliad is not a meticulous historical account. Like the Hollywood historical epics of several thousand years later, Homer allowed himself various degrees of dramatic license. He even casts the gods of Greek mythology into his epic. Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, and other deities appear in the story. They even take sides between the Greeks and the Trojans.
The climax of the Iliad occurs when Achilles, a Greek warrior, faces the Trojan Hector in man-to-man combat. This aspect of the story is likely pure fiction.
The Odyssey departs even further from actual history. The hero of this tale is Odysseus, a Greek warrior who just wanted to return home after the long siege of Troy. The Odyssey is an account of the many adventures that he encounters on the way home. The Odyssey also has a female hero: Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus. While Odysseus spends years away from home battling the worst that Troy and Greek mythology can throw at him, Penelope patiently keeps the home fires burning.