The Iliad is the Homeric epic traditionally paired with The Odyssey as the other major ancient Greek epic attributed to Homer.
The two poems are linked by the Trojan War. The Iliad focuses on a short period near the end of the war, especially Achilles’ anger and its consequences, while The Odyssey follows Odysseus’s difficult return journey after Troy has fallen.
Their relationship is thematic as well as traditional. The Iliad emphasizes battlefield honor, heroic reputation, kings, and warriors; The Odyssey gives greater attention to homecoming, endurance, cleverness, hospitality, and the restoration of household order.
Both epics are divided into 24 books and were composed in dactylic hexameter. Modern scholars debate how the poems were formed and whether a historical Homer existed, but “Iliad and Odyssey” remains the standard pairing in discussions of Greek epic.