Matthew McElroy ’s Reviews > The Iliad > Status Update

If a high school student told me they didn't enjoy The Iliad, I would ask why, but I would understand their reasoning.
In the middle of the book, there about 100 pages (10 chapters?) of war. Well-described fighting, but largely violence. We get motivation and personal conflict, but it is mostly people getting slaughtered.

I just got to the turning point of the book, where Achilles has made peace with Agamemnon.

These guys love fighting. I mean loving it. And Homer is all in on the fighting. He is happy to describe the way a spear went through someone's body- head, back, stomach, whatever. One of the major aspects of the story that makes it transformative is that the gods largely act like humans. They aren't human. And in Reiu's introduction, he makes it clear that the humans respect and fear the gods.

Zeus loves being involved in the daily lives of humans, especially when they are beautiful young women minding their own damned business. But in the biggest war we know of in Greek mythology/history, Zeus tells all the gods, "No. Not this time."