Iliad
The Iliad was an ancient text written by Homer about the Trojan War.
Despite the crucial role the First Doctor played in the successful Greek plan, Homer omitted all mention of him and the TARDIS from The Illiad, instead putting all of that side of things down to Zeus and the Olympians. He explained that this was because it what was the public expected, though years later he gave an account of events as they had really occurred just a single time before his death. (PROSE: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (novelisation)"])
When tasked by Odysseus to come up with a scheme to capture Troy within two days, Steven Taylor suggested the Trojan Horse to the Doctor (TV: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (TV story)"], PROSE: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (novelisation)"]) but he initially said "it couldn't possibly work in practice" and was "obviously just something Homer thought up as a good dramatic device", telling Steven he would never dream of doing it himself. (PROSE: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (novelisation)"]) However, with time running out and threatened with being fired over the walls of Troy with a catapult, the Doctor did end up using the idea of the huge wooden horse, (TV: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (TV story)"], PROSE: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (TV story)"]) thus allowing Homer to include it in the Iliad in the first place. (PROSE: The Myth Makers [+]Loading...["The Myth Makers (novelisation)"])
While expressing their poor opinion of Homeric era wine in their memoir Not Necessarily the Way I Do It!, the Doctor said they thought it was telling that the most flattering thing Homer had to say about it in the whole of The Iliad was how like the sea it was in hue, supposing that because he was blind he must have had to ask around a bit to find anyone with something positive to say about it. (PROSE: Apocrypha Bipedium [+]Loading...["Apocrypha Bipedium (short story)"])
The Prologue in a variant version of William Shakespeare's play Troilus and Cressida, which was also set during the Trojan War, stated that compared to Shakespeare Old Homer in the Iliad had produced a list of ships of somewhat greater length: 1186. (PROSE: Troilus and Cressida [+]Loading...["Troilus and Cressida (short story)"])
The Iliad was one of the texts which was taught to students of Clara Oswald at Coal Hill School in the 2010s. She had been teaching one of these lessons earlier on the day she asked the Twelfth Doctor if they could meet Homer. (COMIC: Doctor on the Menu [+]Loading...["Doctor on the Menu (comic story)"])
