The Iliad

It all started with a golden apple. Paris, the prince of Troy, had the golden apple. The three most beautiful goddesses tried to claim it. Was it going to be Athene, goddess of wisdom? Or Hera, wife of Zeus, the king of the gods? Or Aphrodite, goddess of love? They began offering him bribes. The one Paris liked the most was Aphrodite’s bribe. She promised Paris would have the most beautiful woman in the world. That would be Helen, the wife of the king of Sparta. Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite. She and Paris went to go get Helen. The king was very mad. Helen and Paris went to Troy together. The king ordered his Greek soldiers to go get Helen back. The Greeks couldn’t fight their way into Troy. They didn’t want to leave without Helen. So they set up a camp on the beach. No one knew how long the war would take. They were still fighting that same battle nine years later. All the Greek soldiers missed their homes and families they had left back in Greece, but that didn’t stop them.

A few months later, the gods and goddesses decided to interfere. That was a good thing and a bad thing. Either side could win, but that meant the other side has to back to their town, and feel shame and sorrow because they lost the war. Each god or goddess takes a side. Whoever is on the Trojan side has to help the Trojans. Whoever is on the Greek side has to help the Greeks.

The Trojans were planning to set the Greek ships on fire. They tried to hold them back, but they couldn’t. Then a guy named Ajax took pole and swung it at them. It knocked dozens of them off their feet. When they got to the ships, they had torches in their hands, and had already set some ships on fire. Another guy named Patroclus went to the Trojan side and climbed the walls.

Whenever he got to the top, the archer god, Apollo, shot him back down every time his head appeared over the wall. Neither side would give away until the sun went down. Patroclus was so busy fighting, that he didn’t see the mist that was coming toward him. Apollo was hidden in the mist. He came up from behind Patroclus. Apollo struck at the plume of Patroclus’s helmet. At the same time, Achilles’s spear shattered in Patroclus’s hand. And at the same time, his shield fell from his shoulder. He was completely exposed in the middle of a battle.

You can find out what happens next when you read it.

The Iliad had a slow start, and then it got interesting. So some parts of the book got a bit boring, and some parts were really interesting. I give this book 3.5 stars. The Iliad is a good book for kids who like adventure and drama. I recommend this book for kids 9 to 13.