There were many great poets and writers in ancient Greece and Rome. Two of the most famous were Homer and Virgil. They wrote some of the most spectacular stories of that time. The Iliad, and Odyssey were written by Homer about the Trojan war and the return from the war. And the Aeneid was written by Virgil. It is a story of the founding of Rome.
The Iliad. The Iliad is the story of the Trojan war, from the beginning to the end. There are many amazing stories in the book, including the story of the Trojan Horse. The Grecians were fighting the Trojans, but the fight was pretty fairly matched. So they called on Ulysses to help them. He thought of making a wooden horse that some of their best soldiers could fit in, then they would make it look like they surrendered and left the horse out side the gates as a gift. Then the Trojans brought the horse in. Overnight the soldiers got out of the horse and opened the gates and their army came in. Then they ransacked the whole city and won the fight. And that was only one of the amazing stories in the book.
The Odyssey. The Odyssey is about a man named Odysseus and his voyage home. It would normally take from a week or two to a few months to get home, bit it took Odysseus 10 years to make it home. He was blown off-coarse and landed on an island. The Island was owned by a Cyclops. They were captured and trapped in its cave as the cyclops was returning home. The cyclops said that he did not like men, and ate two right on the spot. He ate two men in the morning and left, to let his flock feed. When he came back he ate two more men. Then Odysseus put out his eye, and they made their escape tied under the sheep. They sailed away and were free. Then he got to an island that was owned by the god of the wind. He treated them very kind, and said that he would put the wind in a bag, that they might sail faster. However when they were sailing a few of the sailors thought that Odysseus got a gift and the crew didn’t, so they opened the bag with the wind and were blown back to the island whence they came. The god was angry and drove them off his island. Then they came to an island inhabited by canibals, and the canibals destroyed all the ships but one which Odysseus was on. Then they came to the island of an enchantress and were turned in to pigs but Odysseus saved them. On the way out the enchantress said to be careful on the journey. there were many more trials on the way home and eventually the only one left alive was Odysseus. He eventually floated to shore and was reunited with his wife and daughter. But his wife was being wooed by many men. Odysseus overcame all of them and they lived happily ever after.
The Aeneid. The Aeneid starts later in the Trojan war and continues to the founding of the Roman empire. It is a story that follows a Trojan warrior that wanted to find a place to settle. His name was Aeneas. He started by traveling to Cicely with his family. But when they got there, they found it was not quite what they were looking for. So they went to Carthage. There he met the Queen, and she fell in love with him. But he couldn’t stay because, like Cicely it was a different culture and he didn’t feel that it was the right place to settle. Broken hearted when Aeneas left she killed herself because of despair. Eventually Aeneas found a place and settled. and they called it Rome.
oliver neudorf 