The epic poem The Iliad begins nine years after the beginning of the Trojan War and describes the great warrior Achilles and the battles and events that take place as he quarrels with the King Agamemnon. Homer portrays the glories and honour of war through his hero Achilles, while simultaneously describing the world of the gods where petty squabbles and shallow grudges arise between them as they interfere in the mortals' affairs. Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey are still revered today as the oldest and finest examples of Western Literature and the most influential and most imitated works.