Scholars generally agree that the Iliad was composed sometime between about 750 and 650 BCE, in the late 8th or early 7th century BCE, rather than at a single exact date. It grew out of an older oral tradition about the Trojan War (often dated around 1200 BCE), but the poem in the form known today was shaped centuries later in archaic Greece.

Core timeline

  • Most classicists place the composition of the Iliad in the late 8th century BCE, around 750–700 BCE, based on linguistic features and historical allusions in the poem.
  • A minority of scholars argue for a slightly later date in the 7th century BCE, still before 600 BCE, since Homer is already treated as a famous poet by that time in later Greek sources.

Oral tradition vs writing

  • The stories behind the Iliad likely circulated orally for generations after the Bronze Age collapse, long before they were written down, which is why the poem mixes Mycenaean and later Dark Age elements.
  • Many researchers think a single master poet (traditionally called Homer) composed a relatively unified version in epic verse, which was then written down once alphabetic writing was established in Greece in this period.

Why there is no exact year

  • No original manuscript of the Iliad survives; existing papyri and medieval codices are centuries later, so the date has to be inferred from language, archaeology, and references in other authors.
  • Because of this, scholars usually give a range rather than a precise year, with “late 8th century BCE” or “late 8th to early 7th century BCE” being the most widely cited formulation.

TL;DR: When people ask “when was the Iliad written,” the best-supported answer is that it was composed in archaic Greece, probably around 750–700 BCE, drawing on much older oral tales of the Trojan War.