“There is no happy ending,” says Aslak Rostad, associate professor of classics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The story of the Greek superhero Achilles and the famous Trojan War is not exactly a feel-good story, even though it does have its humorous moments. The Iliad, one of the two great epic poems from Ancient Greece, is filled with the horrors of war over hundreds of pages.

“There are a lot of battle scenes and a lot of graphic depictions of violence. It is in fact an extremely violent text. The Iliad presents a number of dilemmas related to the warrior culture. That is the paradox of war – it is a place where a person can win honour, but at the same time a place associated with pain and death,” explained Rostad.

However, The Iliad also contains a wealth of stories about the various characters who feature in the narrative.

“It tells the story of people’s relationships, emotions, values and beliefs, all within the context of war.”

It has been over a hundred years since The Iliad was last translated into Norwegian, by Peter Østby. Twelve years ago, Rostad began the painstaking task of creating a new, modern Norwegian version of the epic poem – in verse form.

“I write in the Bokmål variant of Norwegian, and while I try to avoid using archaic terms, it shouldn’t be too modern, either. There are limits to how modern you can make a text that is nearly three thousand years old. The point is to show that a translation into modern Norwegian is possible,” said Rostad.

After all, historians tend to think in the long term. The translation is not quite ready yet:

“I am almost done with the 21st book, so there are just three more books to complete. I expect to be finished next year. By then, I should have completed the whole thing, although some editing will still need to be done,” he added.

The Iliad is quite a long story, which begins with Zeus deciding that there are too many people on Earth – and wanting to reduce the number.

So, why should people read The Iliad, a heroic epic poem that was originally passed down orally? Before that, it was written down in strict verse form many hundreds of years before Christ and intended for public recitation.

“The Iliad is part of a larger epic cycle called The Trojan War. It is quite a long story, which begins with Zeus deciding that there are too many people on Earth – and wanting to reduce the number,” explained Rostad.

A wedding is being celebrated. Zeus invites all the gods, except one. Eris is the goddess of strife and discord, and Zeus does not want any trouble or quarrels at the wedding. Eris takes offence.

“She then has a golden apple made which she throws among the wedding guests, and on it is written: ‘For the most beautiful’. So then the question was: who was it intended for? The three goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite begin to argue, and they decide to appoint a judge to settle the matter,” said Rostad.

They choose Paris, Prince of Troy, and then the bribes begin. Hera offers him power, Athena offers him wisdom, and Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chooses the latter, which only leads to further trouble. The most beautiful woman in the world is Helen, wife of Medelaos, the King of Sparta. The outcome? Ten years of war.

This war, too, is about women – as well as loyalty, friendship, heroism and strong emotions.

“This is the backstory, the event that triggers the war – or the siege of Troy – which lasts for ten years. The Iliad itself takes place in the tenth year, when a conflict arises between Achilles and Agamemnon.

This war, too, is about women – as well as loyalty, friendship, heroism and strong emotions.

“The Iliad explores an internal conflict. Achilles must ultimately choose whether to return home and live a long, but uneventful life where no one will remember him after his death, or to stay and die on the battlefield – and be remembered for generations to come.”

The Iliad is one of the oldest literary works in the world that is still being read by a modern audience, and is considered a cornerstone of Western literary history. At the same time, little is known about the origins of the work. Who wrote it, and when? Was it Homer, who wrote The Odyssey, where the story continues?

“There is a long and very complicated debate over who wrote The Iliad. It is not known whether Homer wrote both works, or even whether Homer was a real person. But the two literary works are closely linked, both in form and in language. Both originated during the transition from oral to written literature.”

Rostad presents ‘his’ original text, which is in Ancient Greek. He calls it the original text, but it is far from original.

“There is no single manuscript. Most of the surviving texts from Antiquity have been preserved through mediaeval manuscripts, which were copied by hand. They have then been compared and compiled into editions like the one I have here,” explained Rostad.

These transcriptions are therefore reproductions, made by hand perhaps 1500 years after the text was first written – and then copied again and again. The oldest papyrus fragments that have been found probably date from many centuries after the poem transitioned from oral to written form.

It is also highly unlikely that the Trojan War ever took place.

“No, it is a mythical war, pure mythology. But it is linked to specific places, and the Ancient Greeks viewed it as a historical war. If the city they came from was mentioned in The Iliad, they could claim that they were descendants of those who fought in the war,” said Rostad.

For the Ancient Greeks, this was a matter of prestige. However, the story of the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles is pure fiction.

“But there may have been a war that served as a model for this, which probably took place around 1100–1200 BCE. Maybe. A landscape is clearly described in Asia Minor – present-day Turkey – and a city has now been discovered there that was destroyed by war,” explained the associate professor.

This war may therefore have served as a model for the Trojan War.

“But don’t forget, you can travel to London and visit Baker Street – it doesn’t mean that Sherlock Holmes actually lived there. These are fictional characters,” concluded Rostad.