The Iliad

Though Homer's Iliad, which is an epic poem about the Trojan War, is taught less frequently than The Odyssey, it is also an essential piece of classical, ancient Greek literature. Together, these two works form the foundation of centuries of literature that followed. The Odyssey can be (and often is) read without first reading The Iliad, but The Iliad gives a complete depiction of the gods, goddesses, heroes, and conflicts that incited this fictional war, and the events that lead to Odysseus' epic journey in The Odyssey.

Odysseus -- also the hero of The Odyssey -- is good, brave, brilliant, and fair. Most of the other leaders among the Achaians and Trojans, however, are petty and selfish. Agamemnon, in particular, brings the wrath of the gods down on his people by stealing a beloved mistress from Achilles. Achilles, in turn, refuses to fight in the war until his woman is returned to him. And then there's the ugliness between Achaian king Menelaos, his beautiful queen, Helen, and Helen's Trojan captor, Paris. Throughout The Iliad, women are treated as spoils of war, and men and gods choose sides and kill each other over allegiances to poorly behaved people.

There's no detail given about sex acts in The Iliad, but there's a lot of sex. We read that men and women "make love," "couple," go to bed together and feel lust for each other. The book offers two views of the "rape" of Helen, who the Achaians believe the Trojan prince Paris kidnapped from her husband, King Menelaos. While the Achaians soldiers are told to avenge the "struggles and groans" of Helen, readers see Helen behave quite seductively with Paris. In general, other than the goddesses, females are treated as spoils of war; men can win, give or take sex partners from each other.