The Iliad (Penguin Classics)
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One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer’s Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles’ close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge – although knowing this will ensure his own early death. Interwoven with this tragic sequence of events are powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb and flow of battle, of the domestic world inside Troy’s besieged city of Ilium, and of the conflicts between the Gods on Olympus as they argue over the fate of mortals.
About the Author
Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives. Both works attributed to Homer – The Iliad and The Odyssey – are over ten thousand lines long in the original.
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First Sentence
Iliad" is a word that means "a poem about Ilium" (i.e., Troy), and Homer's great epic poem has been known as "The Iliad" ever since the Greek historian Herodotus so referred to it in the fifth century B.C. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Iliad" is a word that means "a poem about Ilium" (i.e., Troy), and Homer's great epic poem has been known as "The Iliad" ever since the Greek historian Herodotus so referred to it in the fifth century B.C. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A readable Iliad in modern idiom,
By Michael Wells Glueck "EditAndPublishYourBook.com" (Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Iliad (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Robert Fagles's translation of Homer's Iliad is spiritually if not literally true to the original. Both versions repeat set speeches and descriptions in precisely the same words, and the translation exhibits a fairly regular rhythmic beat. But Homer's Greek was chanted, and the set passages were like refrains in which listeners could, if they chose, join in as a chorus. In English, the repetitions sometimes become tedious, especially when the same speech is given three times in two pages, as in the relay of Zeus's orders in Book II. Especially noteworthy is Bernard Knox's long and fascinating Introduction, a masterpiece of literary criticism and scholarship which conveys Homer's grim attitude toward war, the interplay of divine and human will, and the ancient concepts of honor, courage, and virility in the face of the stark finality of death. Knox also includes a succinct explanation of the quantitative, rather than accentual, basis of Greek (and Latin) verse. For easy readability, Fagles's translation is without rival. For elegance and poetry, however, I recommend Richmond Lattimore's older but still gripping and fluent translation.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Vote for Best Translation of this Exciting Epic Tale!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Iliad - translated by Robert Fagles (Hardcover)
I highly recommend this translation of the classic Homeric epic. I have read many fine translations of this work, but Robert Fagles' translation is by far the best I've seen. Fagles manages to bring the story to life while still maintaining a sense of the poetic beauty of the original. Far from being a dusty and archaic rendition, this translation is instead very much "alive", and truly captures the excitement and beauty of this classic tale. I discovered many new insights that I had missed in my earlier readings of Homer's Illiad, and Robert Fagles' translation makes it clear why this is such a long-standing literary classic.Also, the "introduction" by the well-respected classicist, Bernard Knox, is a great source of additional,up-to-date information about both the Illiad and the Homeric period of Ancient Greece.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best story of all time,
By YaromCMG (Milton Keynes) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Iliad (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
I absolutely love the Iliad. It is a passionate narrative covering the most significant part of the Trojan war; the events leading up to Hector's death. It is a pulsating story where Gods and heros throw themselves passionately into the conflict to give their own side an advantage. It is a tragic story of gory violence, passionate speeches, heroic deeds and divine intervention.
In my view it is also one of the most significant books ever written on the nature of religion and spirituality, demonstrating the duality and ambiguity of the divine. In the story, the Gods have an influence over just about everything that happens, supporting and hindering both Trojans and Greeks in their own interests. In this world, the Gods are both fallible, selfish, vulnerable and not all powerful. It is a lessons that followers of the modern monotheistic religions would do well to learn from. For those interested in Greek Mythology, it should be compulsory reading. The ancient world is brought to life in a way that makes the reader feel he/she is part of a world where Gods and heros really did walk the earth.
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