History Literature / TheIliad

* AdvantageBall: The battle goes this way and that, depending on which side the gods are currently favoring. The advantage is indicated by one side's champions being temporarily invinicible: first Diomedes, then Hector, and finally Achilles.

* BashBrothers: Greater Ajax and his [[SiblingTeam illegitimate brother]] Teucer. Typically the latter will hide behind Ajax's shield and fire over it, providing long-range support, while Ajax handles the melee. It's rather heartwarming when you realise that, despite Teucer's bastard status, the two of them are very close.

* CombatByChampion: Menelaus vs. Paris, Hector vs. Ajax.

* BadassBoast: Practically half the book is composed of lengthy exchanges of these. Diomedes delivers a pretty spectacular one in Book Six: "Who are you, my fine friend? - another born to die? I've never noticed you on the lines where we win glory, not till now. But here you come, charging out in front of all the rest with such bravado, daring to face the flying shadow of my spear. Pity those whose sons stand up to me in war! ...If you're a man who eats the crops of the earth, a mortal born for death - here, come closer, the sooner you will meet your day to die!"

* DamnedByFaintPraise: One of the biggest signs of Paris's uselessness is his comparative lack of epithets - while everyone else gets "man-killer", "brilliant", or "leader of men", the only epithets Paris receives refer to his good looks and his birth, suggesting they're all he has going for him.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: And roughly 70% of them [[KillEmAll get killed off]] - within two paragraphs of being introduced.

** Diomedes, "Cunning of God", which makes sense since he is the favored warrior of Athena and is an accomplice of Odysseus, as well as the one with most battle experience out of all the Greek Warriors, next to Nestor.
** Achilles, whose name some believe derives from "akhos", a Greek word for "grief". Achilles is famous for his wrath, but it's his grief that motivates him to his greatest deeds.
* MenDontCry: In spite of Greek culture not looking down on crying as unmanly, in book 16 the crabby Achilles asks Patroclus why he's crying, comparing him to a blubbering baby girl begging for her mama.

** One of the Ajaces' patronym is Oileades (son of Oileus) - and there's another soldier by that name briefly mentioned as well.
** One of Achilles' female slaves is named Diomedes, or the feminine form of the name.

** Paris is such a {{Jerkass}} that Helen doesn't mention him in any meaningful way over her ''half-page'' of grieving over Hector. She doesn't even name him as the only other person who's still nice to her--no, that goes to ''Priam''. [[SarcasmMode Nice work, Paris.]]

* WetBlanketWife: In book 6, Andromache tries to dissuades her husband Hector from returning to combat: "Nay, Hector, thou art to me father and queenly mother, thou art brother, and thou art my stalwart husband. Come now, have pity, and remain here on the wall, lest thou make thy child an orphan and thy wife a widow."

** In another [[UnwantedSpouse point]] [[TheLoad against]] him, Paris does ''not'' defend Helen when others accuse her of this. That's Hector's job. Or, it ''[[TearJerker was]]''.

* AchillesInHisTent: Achilles refuses to come out and fight due to a squabble with Agamemnon. Agamemnon tries to coax Achilles back by meeting the demands he originally made before the new threat, but Achilles [[OffTheTable now refuses them]]. Also, in stark contrast to modern examples, Achilles does not learn AnAesop about teamwork or friendship. He re-enters battle out of pure blood rage, after Patroclus kicks the bucket, and winds up forming an OddFriendship with the enemy king instead of with Agamemnon.

* DesecratingTheDead: Achilles slays the Trojan warrior Hector for killing his much-loved cousin and best friend (and probably lover) Patrocles. After doing so, he ties Hector's body to the back of his chariot and races around the Trojan beach, proclaiming Greek superiority to Troy for twelve days and twelve nights. The Trojans [[AchillesHeel do get their revenge]], though, and even the Gods themselves eventually get offended by Achilles's actions -- it is the involvement of the Gods that prevents Hector's corpse from being further mutilated, and the end of the Iliad involves Hector getting a proper burial by the Trojans.

* HollywoodTactics: Proving this trope OlderThanFeudalism, Homer does correctly realize that Mycenaean Greeks preferred using chariots in battle, rather than the modern-at-the-time hoplite warfare. However, many historians believe that he was inexperienced with how chariots tended to be used in battle: while most chariot-users favored staying in the chariot and using its mobility and power to either crush formations or stay at a distance lobbing projectiles, Homer depicts them as being used mostly for ferrying individual warriors around so that they can duel their opponents in single combat.

** Achilles' is his wrath and pettiness. It is so prevalent that he refuses Agamemnon's offer to return Briseis as a bribe to get Achilles to fight again. Even after he suffers the consequences of his action in Patroclus' death, he simply redirects his anger from Agamemnon to Hector, instead of realizing that Patroclus' death is primarily his fault and learning his lesson. His wrath does not abate until Priam makes him realize that Hector and Priam's situation is NotSoDifferent to Achilles and Peleus, and he is finally able to empathize with his enemy.

The main plot concerns Achilles, the invaders' strongest soldier. Achilles, according to prophecy, has a choice: either die an untimely death that ensures his legend lives forever, or retire to a [[IJustWantToBeNormal life of normality]] and obscurity. After a falling-out with King Agamemnon, Achilles [[AchillesInHisTent withdraws from the war]], tempted by the second option. In his absence, the fortunes of battle begin to swing the Trojan way. Achilles eventually chooses glory... ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge after]]'' [[ItsPersonal the death of his]] [[HideYourGays 'friend']] [[TragicBromance Patroclus]].

The main plot concerns Achilles, the invaders' strongest soldier. Achilles, according to prophecy, has a choice: either die an untimely death that ensures his legend lives forever, or retire to a [[IJustWantToBeNormal life of normality]] and obscurity. After a falling-out with King Agamemnon, Achilles [[AchillesInHisTent withdraws from the war]], tempted by the second option. In his absence, the fortunes of battle begin to swing the Trojan way. Achilles eventually, of course, chooses glory... ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge after]]'' [[ItsPersonal the death of his]] [[HideYourGays 'friend']] [[TragicBromance Patroclus]].

The main plot concerns Achilles, the invaders' strongest soldier. Achilles, according to prophecy, has a choice: either die an untimely death that ensures his legend lives forever, or retire to a [[IJustWantToBeNormal life of normality]] and obscurity. After a falling-out with King Agamemnon, Achilles [[AchillesInHisTent withdraws from the war]], tempted by the second option. In his absence, the fortunes of battle begin to swing the Trojan way. Achilles eventually, of course, chooses glory... ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge after]]'' [[ItsPersonal the death of his friend Patroclus]].

** Diomedes and Glaucos hold off from killing each other, decide they'll mutually avoid each other, and exchange weapons... because one's father had been the guest of the other.

* BlingOfWar: The armour and equipment Hephaistos makes for Achilles. Just the description of the shield is more than a hundred lines long.

* AerithAndBob: Names like Hector or Helen are still used around the globe, modified to match a country's language (e.g. "Hector" in english-speaking countries, "Héctor" in spanish/portuguese, "'Εκτορας" in greek and so on...). Names like Agamemnon or Diomedes, however, are quite uncommon.

* JerkassBall: Hector's refusal to hand Patroclus' body to the Greeks so they can bury it.

** Hector's is overconfidence and refusal to listen to advice. Unlike Achilles and Agamemnon, Hector finally realizes what his flaw is, but not until it's too late and his TragicMistake has already been made. Of the three, Hector experiences the worst consequences for his actions. Not only does his flaw inevitably lead to a terrible but also avoidable defeat of the Trojan army at the hands of Achilles, his attempt to redeem himself ultimately leads to his death, his body is desecrated, [[WatchingTroyBurn his city is burned]], [[InfantImmortality his newborn son]] [[SubvertedTrope thrown from the city walls]], and his wife becomes the SexSlave of his slayer's son.

* AerithAndBob: The use of names like Hector or Helen have persisted in English-speaking countries...but the likes of Agamemnon or Diomedes, however, have not.