THE ILIAD

The Iliad begins during the Trojan war before The Odyssey begins. The Iliad basicly sets up for the beginning of The Odyssey. The Iliad ends with the burial of the Trojan prince Hector after losing a battle with Achilles.

THE ODYSSEY

The Odyssey is an epic poem passed down through the generations. The version written down today was told by a man named Homer. All we know is that it was his version of the story. The Odyssey takes place after The Iliad (which was also by Homer). The Odyssey is about Odysseus's long journey home from the Trojan War.

KING ODYSSEUS

King Odysseus is the main character in this book. After his victory in Troy he went and blinded Poseidon's son the Cyclops (not a very good idea). Although I guess he didn't have much of a choice considering that he was trapped in the Cyclops's cave. It was also not a good idea to tell him his name (which he did). Especially if the Cyclops is throwing overly large boulders at his ship (which he was). Poseidon wasn't too happy with Odysseus. He promised to make Odysseus's life miserable and that he would go home a broken man, all shipmates lost (Charybdis made sure of that).

HOMER

Homer was a bard who traveled around Ancient Greece telling the story of The Great King Odysseus' journeys. He, however was not the person who wrote the book that we have today called The Odyssey. We do not know anything about who wrote the book. Only that it was Homer's version of the story. We do not have alot of info about Homer other than that he supposedly lived during the Dark Ages of Greece.