Is The Iliad true? Did Achilles, Agamemnon, and all the other epic bronze-age heroes that Homer wrote about really exist? Though many historians believe that a city called Troy was attacked in a great war, the specifics and characters of The Iliad are believed to be fictional. So, this may suggest that The Iliad is not true. But legendary American writer, Tim O’Brien, believes there is another type of truth, one independent from happenings. In one chapter of his novel, The Things They Carried, entitled “How to Tell a True War Story”, he goes into the properties which make a war story true. One of such properties is that a true war story is not about war. This may seem paradoxical, but upon closer inspection, it rings true. For example, The Iliad is not about war. The Iliad acts as a teaching tool, instructing about Greek values and culture.

If a true war story has a moral, you must unravel the whole story to get to it. In The Iliad, many of the lessons and teachings are not put upfront, like the Ten Commandments. Instead, they are crystallized into gems which must be excavated from the story. One such example is the counsel scene of book 9, in which Odysseus, Phoenix, and Ajax, attempt to convince Achilles to fight again. Odysseus points out that Agamemnon will give him gifts and glory, Phoenix points out that even the gods can overcome their wrath, and Ajax simply says, “Gentle your heart. Respect your house.” Though this quote may seem like three warriors trying to convince Achilles to come fight, it is really instructing a far deeper lesson about Greek rhetoric. The three arguments each represent one greek method of rhetoric. Odysseus’ argument represents Logos (using logic to argue), Phoenix’s argument represents Pathos (using sympathy and emotions to argue), and Ajax’s argument represents Ethos (using ethics to argue). Another example of a hidden lesson resides in book 3, when Hector belittles Paris on the battlefield. He insults Paris, saying, “Your appearance is beautiful, but there is no strength in your heart.” This quote obviously instructs about how looks do not translate into glory or status. But it also instructs on a deeper meaning. It says, specifically, “there is no strength in your heart.” This comments on how physical strength is not as important as strength of heart and morals.

A true war story is never moral, and never uplifting. Though many of the stories in The Iliad instruct meaningful lessons, few have happy endings. The opening line summarizes it well, “Wrath–sing, goddess, of the wrath of Peleus’ son Achilles that inflicted woes without number upon the Achaeans.” The entire story focuses on the unyielding wrath of Achilles, who refuses to fight, and his comrades die because of it. It teaches an important lesson in Greek culture, but it does not have a happy ending. Hector’s story is also a non-uplifting one. Even after his wife tries to convince him to not fight, saying, “Do not make your child fatherless, your wife a widow,” he still chooses his duties as a warrior over his duties as a father and husband. Though this is the correct thing to do as a warrior, and the choice wins him glory, he still dies because of it. And, he is nearly denied a proper burial as Achilles keeps dragging his body around the walls of Troy–certainly not an uplifting story.

The Iliad is not about war. Though it covers a war, if you dig deeper into it, you will find it is about Greek culture, morals, and values. Is The Iliad true? We may never know for sure if it happened, but it is certainly true.