Homer's Iliad is set among the tales of Troy. Its subject is the anger of the hero Achilles and its dreadful consequences for the warring Greeks and Trojans. It was composed more than 2,600 years ago, but still transfixes us with its tale of loss and battle, love and revenge, guided throughout by the active presence of the gods. Its beauty and profound bleakness are intensely moving but great questions remain: where, how and when it was composed and why it has such enduring power?

In this superbly written and conceived tribute, Robin Lane Fox addresses these questions, expressing and amplifying what old and new readers can find in the poem. He argues for a place, a date and a method for its composition, giving us a sense of alternative approaches and grounding his own in discoveries about long heroic poems composed elsewhere in the world, and the ever-growing evidence of archaeology.

Homer's Iliad is pervaded, he argues, by a poignant hardness which is not just a poetic trick. It is a deeply held view of the world.