Achilleis

"Achilleis" is a poem written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe between 1797-99 and published in 1808. While working on another poem called "Hermann and Dorothea," Goethe studied Homer's "Iliad" in the translation by Johann Heinrich Voß. He realized that there was a missing piece between the end of the "Iliad" and the beginning of the "Aeneid." This inspired him to start writing "Achilleis," an epic poem consisting of 8 songs. However, he abandoned the project after completing only the first song. The poem is written in hexameter, a form of meter used in ancient Greek and Latin epic poetry.