Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Iliad

ILIAD, a celebrated epic poem in the Greek language, consisting of 24 books. Its composition is generaly ascribed to Homer. It is, however, a matter of dispute as to whether the poem is a homogeneous whole, or a series of ballads or rhapsodies on different episodes in the Trojan War, united into a continuous poem. It is said that Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, first collected and arranged the “Iliad” and “Odyssey.” The chief subject of the poem is the wrath of Achilles, and the consequent troubles thence arising. The action is confined to the 10th and last year of the siege of Troy. See Homer.