In what order should I read The Illiad, The Odyssey and The Aeneid?

Question

Which order would make the most sense? I understand there's some overlap between The Illiad and The Odyssey (or at least one expects you to know events that happened in the other).

Will reading them in the "wrong" order cause mass confusion? Or at least more confusion than I would have the other way?

Answer 1

It doesn't make a big difference, as the three stories each stand on their own. To read them in order of the chronology of events, read the Iliad first, then the Aeneid, then the Odyssey. The Aeneid comes in the middle because it picks up the story at the end of the Trojan war, after the events in the Iliad, telling how Odysseus (called Ulysses in the Aeneid) and his men got into Troy via the Trojan Horse. It then goes on to tell how the Trojans found their way to Rome.

The events on the Odyssey come ten years after the end of the Trojan war, when Odysseus finally makes his way home.

However, you could also make a case for leaving the Aeneid for last, because it was written so long after the other two and is very different in style and attitude.

Answer 2

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You could read the Illiad then the Odyssey, both by Homer, but I'd read the Illiad, then the Aeneid since both are about the war. The Odyssey is about what happens to Odysseus after the war ends and is trying to get home.

Answer 3

Read the Illiad, then the Odyssey and then the Aeneid like you wrote it.
:)
there isnt really a wrong way, or wrong order. But they do sort of follow eachother.
ive read the Odyssey after the Illiad, but i didnt really see the similarities in the two.

Answer 4

In my Humanities class we read the Odyssey only, and I never read the Iliad or the Aeneid before. But I wasn't at all lost, because they are all very individual books/poems, only some few stories will require you to reference back and forth to the other. Just read, you will eventually get the overall scheme of events- I did.

Answer 5

Odyssey, Illiad & The Aeneid. in that order.
to make easier understanding.
but i have OCD so i would read them;The Aeneid, The Illiad & The Odyssey.

Answer 6

I think you should start with "The Illiad" first since it is the inception of all trouble, love, revenge, loss, etc. then proceed to "The Odyssey", presumably its sequel. As for "The Aeneid", it is another story written to glorify Roman warriors.

Answer 7

the Illiad and then the Oddyssey. The Aeneid is not connected except loossly to the other two, so it deosn't really matter when you read that one.

Answer 8

i don't know about Aeneid.

but you should definitely read the ILIAD BEFORE THE ODYSSEY because the Iliad's events are before.

Answer 9

in the order they were written

Answer 10

i would read the iliad
then the odyssey
and idk about the aeneid...i haven't read that yet.