pstrongemThe Iliademstrong and strongemThe Odysseyemstrong are the earliest works of Western literature and are the wellspring for much of Western culture. strongemThe Iliademstrong, beginningppSing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilles and its devastationppdescribes the devastation unleashed by Achilles's rage, engulfing soldier and civilian, hero and coward, ruler and slave and even women and children. It is a story of heroes of immense pride and animal strength operating in their element. But it is much more than a great war epic.ppHomer creates complex human characters. A Greek and Trojan pair, Diomedes and Glaucus, meet on the battlefield, but realizing that they have an ancestral connection, they exchange conversation and armour rather than taunts and blows. King Priam kisses the hands of Achilles, saying I have endured what no one on earth has endured. I have kissed the hands of the man who killed my son, an act which provokes deep sympathy in Achilles, who in turn return