Achilleis

Achilleis, an uncompleted epic poem in hexameters by Goethe. Eight cantos were projected, of which only the first (of 651 lines) was written. It was to have for its subject the death of Achilles, filling the gap between Iliad and Odyssey. The starting-point of the extant canto is the scene before Troy as the flames of Hector's funeral pyre die down. Written in 1799 at the height of Goethe's classical enthusiasm, it has wonderful passages such as the opening (‘Hoch zu Flammen entbrannte die mächtige Lohe noch einmal’ etc.) but also appreciable mythological longueurs and many mechanically constructed hexameters.