<P> The Iliad (/ ˈɪliəd /; Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς Ilias, pronounced (iː.li. ás) in Classical Attic; sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer . Set during the Trojan War, the ten - year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles . </P> <P> Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning . Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' imminent death and the fall of Troy, although the narrative ends before these events take place . However, as these events are prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, when it reaches an end the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War . </P> <P> The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer . Along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century BC . Recent statistical modelling based on language evolution gives a date of 760--710 BC . In the modern vulgate (the standard accepted version), the Iliad contains 15,693 lines; it is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects . </P> <Dl> <Dd> Note: Book numbers are in parentheses and come before the synopsis of the book . </Dd> </Dl>

What came first the iliad or the odyssey