Homer's epic does not tell of such seemingly essential events as the abduction of Helen, for example, nor of the mustering and sailing of the Greek fleet, the first hostilities of the war, the Trojan Horse, and the sacking and burning of Troy. Instead, the 15, 693 lines of Homer's Iliad describe the occurrences of a roughly two-week period in the tenth and final year of what had become a stalemated siege of Troy. Caroline Alexander
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The Iliad is a warrior epic, and it is ironic that, as a result of its scope, the action of the story is limited to just two weeks of the ten-year war. Historians often say that there were no such things as battles in Homeric times. There were only clashes of arms between armies of horsemen. But it would be more accurate to say that there were no battles during the Iliad; we must read between the lines.

Source: The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story Of Homers Iliad And The Trojan War

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