usually dated to around the 8th century BC. In the standard accepted version, the text of the Iliad contains 15,693 lines and is written in Homeric Greek, a literary language derived from mixing Ionic Greek with other Ancient Greek dialects. The Iliad is set during the ten-year siege of the polis of Troy (Ilium), ruled by King Priam and his sons Hector and Paris, by a massive army from a coalition of Greek states led by King Agamemnon of Mycenae. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning. Furthermore, the Greek gods not only watch the war as it progresses but actively intervene on behalf of those mortals whom they favor. The epic begins with Homer's invocation to Calliope, the one of the Nine Muses responsible for inspiring both eloquence and epic poetry. Homer then relates a quarrel over a woman between Agamemnon and the warrior and demigod Achilles. Only divine intervention from his patroness Athena prevents Achilles from killing Agamemnon on the spot. Achilles, however, retreats to his tent, vowing not to come out until Agamemnon apologizes. In the end, the slaying of his close friend Patroclus by Hector brings Achilles out of his tent with the intention of fighting Hector to the death. After a savage and brutal battle, Achilles slays Hector and repeatedly defiles his corpse. But after Priam enters his tent and pleads for the return of his son's body, Achilles relents and allows Priam to take the remains of Hector back inside the walls of the city. Hector's funeral rites and the cremation of his body on a funeral pyre are related in detail. Although the epic narrative ends right at this point, before Achilles' imminent death at the hands of Hector's brother Paris and the fall of Troy, these events are prefigured and alluded to quite vividly. Therefore, when The Iliad reaches its end, Homer has told the full story of the Trojan War. Posthomerica The events between the cremation of Hector and the Fall of Troy are expanded upon in the 4th century epic poem Posthomerica, by Quintus of Smyrna. His materials are borrowed from the