B lack ships before troy the story of the iliad by rosemary sutcliff is a retelling of the story of the trojan war for young readers paris a trojan prince falls in love with helen the wife of. In the book black ships before troy by rosemary sutcliff she rewrites the story of homers iliad for young readers many of the characters include royalty and warriors from sparta and troy as well as greek gods who liked to interfere in their lives it retells the story of the trojan war the iliad by homer. Black ships before troy the story of the iliad item preview remove circle black ships before troy the story of the iliad by sutcliff rosemary retells the story of the trojan war from the quarrel for the golden apple and the flight of helen with paris to the destruction of troy . Black ships before troy the story of the iliad is a childrens novel written by rosemary sutcliff and illustrated by alan lee the novel was published posthumously in 1993 and retells homers epic poem the iliad for elementary school readers