The Iliad is the first work of Western literature: a 15000-line epic poem written circa 700 BC. Its title derives from an incident that took place during the Greek siege of Ilium, a town in the region of Troy.

War is raging between the Greeks and the Trojans. When the Trojan warrior Hector kills Achilles’ treasured friend Patroclus, Achilles rushes into battle to seek revenge through butchery and slaughter, even though it will certainly bring about his own doom.

The Odyssey, the epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature.

It recounts the story of Odysseus’ return to Ithaca from the Trojan war, and how, championed by Athene, and hounded by the wrathful sea-god Poseidon, he encounters the terrifying one-eyed Cyclops, escapes Scylla and Charybdis, is seduced by Circe and Calypso, and finally reunites with his beloved Penelope.

Samuel Butler’s brilliant translations are an extraordinary rendering of Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey, the most accessible and enthralling epic tales of classical Greece. They are considered seminal texts in the Western canon.

HOMER is believed to have lived circa 700 BC in Ionia, and is thought to be the author of the earliest works of Western Literature: The Odyssey and The Iliad.