Is it even possible to read the Iliad without any background

90% of Iliad is just some dipshits spearing each other in groin areas. It's the single most overrated piece of literature ever

>>9258140
Yeah. Dive in.

>>9258143
The Odyssey is best

Get the Fagles version, there's plenty of notes in the back telling you who all the characters and gods are and how to pronounce their names.

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>>9258157
>americans need a pronunciation guide to know how Greek words are pronounced

>>9258140
The Iliad IS the background. That's where the Greeks started. Kind of. If you don't count the pre-Greeks, but we got almost nothing written by them saved. Also, if you don't count some Asian cultures that Greeks stole from, and I'm not including Asia Minor in there. So yeah, the Iliad is where the Greeks started. An easier introduction would be Hesiod, since his Theogony is more straightforward. But Homer is his main source.