History Literature / TheIliad

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Characters constantly bring up that the fight between Agamemnon and Achilles is pointless, and has caused both of them much grief. Agamemnon himself admits that he was the first to transgress, and wishes he had never done so.

* HopeSpot: The Trojans ''almost'' defeat the Greeks and burn the ships.

* OhCrap: Every one of the Trojans does this when they see Achilles, including Hector. Every one of the Greeks does this when they see Hector except for Ajax, Patroclus, Automedon, Diomedes and Achilles.

%%* SmiteMeOMightySmiter

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Achilles/Akhilleus, Patroclus/Patroklos, Hector/Hektor, Ajax/Aias, Helen/Helene, Teucer/Teukros, Clytemestra/Klytaimnestra. During the ages, the text has gone through editing, transliteration, translation, and adaptation for poetic purposes: it's not surprising that there are variants of the main characters' names. Romanized vs. original Greek names is a big contributor.

* AchillesHeel. Achilles has it in this story. I mean... well... [[TropeNamer obviously]].

** 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 Agamemnon tries to coax Achilles back by meeting the demands he originally made before the new threat, but Achilles [[OffTheTable now refuses them]].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.

* HomoeroticSubtext: While it's unknown what the author(s) intended writing the Iliad, Achilles and Patroclus' relationship sometimes go beyond platonic in some translations. The Lombardo version is especially well known for this, and Achilles calls Patroclus "mine" and "my beloved several times".
** Some ancient writers, like Creator/{{Plato}} in his ''Symposium'', suspect that Achilles and Patroclus are indeed lovers. On the other hand, Xenophon, a contemporary of Plato, insisted in his own ''Symposium'' that Achilles and Patroclus were merely very good friends and nothing more.

* InMediasRes: The Roman Horace wrote the TropeNamer pointing out the fact that the Iliad starts in the middle of the war.

** Some ancient writers indeed suspect that Achilles and Patroclus are indeed lovers, with Creator/{{Plato}} exploring this in his ''Symposium'' with Phaedrus. On the other hand, Xenophon, a contemporary of Plato, insisted in his own ''Symposium'' that Achilles and Patroclus were merely very good friends and nothing more.

* TheLoad: Paris may be the UrExample. Even the other Trojans think he's a philandering, cowardly jerk who's responsible for the war. His preferred weapon is a "cowardly bow." He is humiliated in his only proper fight, and relies on the Goddess of Love to get him out of trouble. When the armies gather for the duel between Paris and Menelaus, it is explicitly stated that, whether Greek or Trojan, ''everyone'' wants Paris dead. In one translation, he gets called a "desperate, womanizing pretty boy" by his badass older brother Hector, and a "sissy, curly-haired pimp of a bowman" by Diomedes. Even his father, Priam, calls him a "hero of the dance, light-fingered pillager of lambs and kids from the town pens", saying that he's a useless wimp. In part of the myth not covered in the ''Iliad'', he gets one over Achilles by hitting his heel with his ''poisoned'' arrows. (Poison was not considered utterly dishonorable in this time period, but it wasn't exactly RatedMForManly, even if both Heracles and Philoctetes used arrows poisoned with the blood of the Hydra.)

* LockAndLoad: Arming scenes are everywhere. Even the ladies get in on it; for example, when [[LipstickAndLoadMontage Hera is dressing]] to [[DistractedByTheSexy seduce Zeus]]. Athena is described in loving detail slipping out of her dress and... donning armor for battle.