I have no idea how to rate this b/c I am not comparing it to modern books. The fact I can read it almost 3000 years after it was written seems worthy of a couple of stars. Basically men kill each other for honor and glory, but to complicate things, even if they are valiant, or noble or brave, the whim of the gods keeps it from being a fair fight. So annoying! Very gory, very repetitive (of course it is a poem, lest I forget) and women are handed out as prizes--almost as good as getting a shiny cauldron which has not been darkened by the fire yet. No one is very likable, least of all Achilles, who is a real jerk. Took me a month to read and not a Trojan horse to be found. Basically I can now say I read it.