The Odyssey begins ten years after the fall of Troy. Nolan's film opens with a man desperate to get home from a war that has already ended. The Iliad is that war — ten years of siege, the rage of Achilles, the death of Hector, the burning of Troy. Odysseus is a secondary character in the Iliad, but a crucial one: he is the cunning strategist, the man who thinks when others fight. Understanding who he was at Troy makes his journey home mean more.

In the Iliad, Odysseus is not the hero — Achilles is. But Odysseus is everywhere: leading embassies, giving speeches, surviving where others die. He is the man who talks Achilles into returning to battle. He is the man who retrieves Achilles' armor. He is, in the words of Homer, polytropos — the man of many turns. The Iliad shows you who he is before everything goes wrong. The Odyssey shows you what it costs him to get back.

The Trojan Horse does not appear in the Iliad — the poem ends before Troy falls. But it is Odysseus's idea, and it is the act that defines his reputation for centuries. It is referenced in the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and throughout ancient literature as the moment cunning defeated strength. If Nolan's film references the Horse, this is the context. For the full story of the Horse and the fall of Troy, read Book 2 of Virgil's Aeneid immediately after the Iliad.

Once you have finished the Iliad — or if you want to go straight to Homer's Odyssey — the companion guide at readingtheodyssey.com covers everything you need: translations, characters, the journey map, and a dedicated "Before the Nolan Film" page with a reading schedule, cast guide, and breakdown of what Nolan is working with.