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Overview
Iliad
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A Greek hexameter epic poem in twenty-four books, traditionally ascribed to Homer.
The poem tells of the climax of the Trojan War between Greeks and Trojans. The greatest of the Greek heroes, Achilles, retires to his tent enraged by a perceived insult. In his absence his close friend Patroclus is killed by the Trojan hero Hector; at this the grief-stricken Achilles takes the field and kills Hector.
Iliad in a nutshell an allusion to a copy of Homer's Iliad which was supposedly small enough to be enclosed in the shell of a nut; it is used to suggest great condensation, brevity, or limitation.
