In Homer’s Iliad, the Greek forces besiege the ancient city of Troy.
The epic is set during the Trojan War and focuses on a short period near the end of the conflict, rather than narrating the entire war from beginning to end. Its central subject is the anger of Achilles after his dispute with Agamemnon, the Greek commander. The poem follows the consequences of that quarrel, including Achilles’ withdrawal from battle and his eventual return after the death of Patroclus.
Troy is also called Ilium, a name reflected in the poem’s Greek title, Iliad. Archaeological remains at Hisarlik in modern Turkey are widely identified with the historical site associated with Troy, although the relationship between the archaeological layers and the legendary war remains debated.
Readers sometimes expect the Iliad to include the Trojan Horse, but that episode is not narrated in full in the poem. The horse belongs primarily to later parts of the Trojan War tradition, especially Virgil’s Aeneid and other ancient accounts.