The Iliad (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

It seems a little presumptive to try and review Homer's Iliad, a tale almost 3000 years old and one of the great epics, if not the greatest epic, that the ancient world produced. Nor does the story need any introduction: the world over, people know of the legend of the Trojan War, of the young lovers Helen and Paris, and the two champions of the Greeks and the Trojans destined to die, Achilles and Hector. Such has been the impact of this timeless tale of love and war over the millennia, that most people will have heard of it through sheer cultural osmosis and readily understand references to an Achilles' heel or Helen as the face that launched a thousand ships, despite the fact that few of those will have actually read The Iliad. So, this isn't going to be my usual review format, but more a collections of thoughts and comments.

Like any story it has both positives and negatives, and whilst I would recommend The Iliad to anyone, it's only honest to mention all the features. Homer introduces a very wide cast of characters into the story, even outside the main characters, some of whom are mentioned once and then killed, and it can be a challenge to keep track of all the different names, though the recurring characters are strong enough to be readily memorable. Secondly, a key feature of Homer's style has always been a propensity towards asides and stories-within-stories. As a result, there are frequent points where he diverges from the actual main plot of The Iliad and will recount another tale in brief, usually in the form of a character retelling their former adventures and exploits. Sometimes this occurs as part of heroic etiquette; characters facing off on the battlefield decide to exchange lineages and adventures stories before one of them kills the other. This is all part of honourable form in the epic poem, but it's a tad unrealistic right in the middle of a raging battle and it does drag the pacing down somewhat since it goes from fast-paced, heated battle scene to lengthy recitation of lineage and former deeds; as a reader, you're in that fired up, battle scene mindset, and suddenly you just have to reset and readjust.

But, I would urge potential readers to stick with the story, and keep with it despite those two points. At its core, The Iliad is a masterful tale of love and war and the fine line between those two themes. In many ways, The Iliad is such a classic of literature because it is an allegory of ideas and concepts that are still highly relevant to us today. The characters within this tale ask the same questions as us about the nature of love, friendship, family, life, death and honour, and for me that really hit home the knowledge which as an historian I've come to learn many times over the years but is always worth repeating: people in the past may have lived in different times and different cultures and societies to us, but they were human exactly like us, and they pondered the same questions and experienced the same joys, sorrows and angst as we do in the present day. I think a lot of people consider history to be something of a boring subject and assume that the people of the past are so wildly different from us as to be almost alien and unrecognisable, but that isn't the case at all, and reading The Iliad, a story almost 3000 years old, that fact really resonates.

Another key feature of Homer's style, and one of my personal favourites, is his penchant and talent for description. Homer's descriptions are always very vivid and evocative, and they really stay with you - a fact I picked up on when I first read The Odyssey as a child and the memory of which has always stuck with me. The Iliad is crafted with the same wondrous descriptions and attention to detail. Homer also doesn't shy away from describing in full detail some pretty gory death scenes, but these are few and far between, and the seriousness and horror of these scenes never crosses the line into unpalatable.

The Iliad really is a must for any classicist or historian, but I would recommend it to absolutely anyone.

A note on this translation and edition. The late E. V. Rieu's introduction discusses Homer's style and what we know historically about both Homer and any possible Trojan War (though since Rieu wrote his introduction such studies have considerably moved on), the importance of The Iliad and finally the universal themes contained therein far better than I have here.

This is a review of the E V Riue translation.

If you prefer your Iliad in translated prose rather than translated poetic form, then this edition by E V Rieu might be for you. First published in 1950, it might sound dated in places but the fact that it was reprinted by Penguin thirty-four times between 1951 and 1985 when I bought my copy is a testament to the strength of its text. I note that it is still being printed now in 2010!

The age of this translation means that the value of its fifteen-page introduction is perhaps not as great as it is now as it was then - Homer studies have moved on a great deal - but Rieu still has some valuable points to make. In addition, at the book's end there is a short glossary of personages. But those looking for a more up-to-date reference might prefer the recent Penguin edition translated by Robert Fagles, which received rave reviews when first published. I have not read it, but I have read within the last twelve months his fine translation of Virgil's `Aeneid'.

With many books, translations are negligible, with two obvious exceptions, one is the Bible, and surprisingly the other is The Iliad. Each translation can give a different insight and feel to the story. Everyone will have a favorite. I have several.

For example:

"Rage--Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles,
Murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of Death so many souls,
great fighters' souls. But made their bodies carrion,
feasts for dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving towards its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles."
-Translated by Robert Fagles

"Sing, O Goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a heroes did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles first fell out with one another."
-Translated by Samuel Butler

"Rage:
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark,
And let their bodies rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.
Begin with the clash between Agamemnon--
The Greek Warlord--and godlike Achilles."
-Translated by Stanley Lombardo

"Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men--carrion
for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
Begin it when the two men first contending
broke with one another--
the Lord Marshal Agamémnon, Atreus' son, and Prince Akhilleus."
-Translated by Translated by Robert Fitzgerald

"Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son of Achilleus and its devastation, which puts pains thousandfold upon the Achains,
hurled in the multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood the division of conflict Atrecus' son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus."
-Translated by Richmond Lattimore

"Sing, goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles' anger, ruinous, that caused the Greeks untold ordeals, consigned to Hades countless valiant souls, heroes, and left their bodies prey for dogs or feast for vultures. Zeus's will was done from when those two first quarreled and split apart, the king, Agamemnon, and matchless Achilles."
-Translated by Herbert Jordan

"An angry man-there is my story: the bitter rancor of Achillês, prince of the house of Peleus, which brought a thousand troubles upon the Achaian host. Many a strong soul it sent down to Hadês, and left the heroes themselves a prey to the dogs and carrion birds, while the will of God moved on to fulfillment."
-Translated an transliterated by W.H.D. Rouse

You will find that some translations are easier to read but others are easier to listen to on recordings, lectures, Kindle, and the like. If you do not see information on specific translators, it is still worth the speculation and purchase.

Our story takes place in the ninth year of the ongoing war. We get some introduction to the first nine years but they are just a background to this tale of pride, sorrow and revenge. The story will also end abruptly before the end of the war.

We have the wide conflict between the Trojans and Achaeans over a matter of pride; the gods get to take sides and many times direct spears and shields.

Although the more focused conflict is the power struggle between two different types of power. That of Achilles, son of Peleus and the greatest individual warrior and that of Agamemnon, lord of men, whose power comes form position.

We are treated to a blow by blow inside story as to what each is thinking and an unvarnished description of the perils of war and the search for Arête (to be more like Aries, God of War.)

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