The account of the Trojan war in the Iliad is neither fictional nor real; it’s a muthos ‘myth’. Yes, nowadays, the term is used to denote a false story, but that wasn’t the case back then; it referred to a well-established, oral (and later written) tradition. read more
In the Iliad certain heroic characters play major roles in the battles even though the reader knows that many more common soldiers must be involved. The heroes, however, are presented literally as greater human beings than the ordinary warriors. read more