The Iliad (Penguin Classics)

A beautiful translation: "The rage of kings is strong; they're nursed by the gods Their honor comes from Zeus; They're dear to Zeus--the god who rules the world." As far as I can tell with my limited Greek and the Perseus lexicon I have used to track down some of the words I was really interested in, the translation is a rare mixture of faithfulness and approachability. Although...more

A beautiful translation: "The rage of kings is strong; they're nursed by the gods Their honor comes from Zeus; They're dear to Zeus--the god who rules the world." As far as I can tell with my limited Greek and the Perseus lexicon I have used to track down some of the words I was really interested in, the translation is a rare mixture of faithfulness and approachability. Although there's no shortcutting knowledge of the original Attic (poluphoiboi thalasses for the swells of ocean breakers--note the beautiful oceanic onomatopoeia in poluphoiboi ), this translation does a good job of reproducing every possible translatable effect. Ezra Pound, asked if there was any place in the world in which one could find all of poetry, by which was meant every species of the poetic, replied once that if one were willing to learn Greek, they would find it in Homer. I find that to be true: love poetry, battle poetry, philosophical reflection and theology, irony and humor, all await the reader who will venture this way. Read it slow and savor Fagles' own impressive poetry as he renders Greek poetics for the English ear.    hide

While Knox's introduction is thorough and illuminating, the pleasure i derived from this work had everything to do wit the way Fagles translated the ancient work into a surprisingly readable version in English. Make no mistake-- this is an action tale. here's blood, there's guts, and it's all wrapped around with a seriously alien sense of glory. Homer tells it well. (That about sums it up but if...more

While Knox's introduction is thorough and illuminating, the pleasure i derived from this work had everything to do wit the way Fagles translated the ancient work into a surprisingly readable version in English. Make no mistake-- this is an action tale. here's blood, there's guts, and it's all wrapped around with a seriously alien sense of glory. Homer tells it well. (That about sums it up but if you like, read on for more) Second to the clarity of the translation that were all the reference materials at the back of the book-- the glossary of characters, the noted on names and the genealogy trees. All of those amenities left me feeling secure in my knowledge of what was transpiring throughout the novel despite the poetic license. The 600+ pages of poem roll smoothly, and while the number if pages alone is daunting (as epic poetry doesn't intuitively come across as a page turner), the ease of the read leaves you making short work of it. I read it before going to be and on the plane during a seven day trip to Greece and had read it cover to cover by the time I'd arrived back in New York.   hide

Though I have read and I teach The Odyssey, it was good to read The Iliad in order to get more background about the Trojan War. This book is definitely not for the faint-of-heart and Homer's war details are very graphic and grotesque. However, the theme of honor is timeless and I really got caught up in Akhilleus' anger and revenge. There was also the theme of Akhilleus' battle between acting...more

Though I have read and I teach The Odyssey, it was good to read The Iliad in order to get more background about the Trojan War. This book is definitely not for the faint-of-heart and Homer's war details are very graphic and grotesque. However, the theme of honor is timeless and I really got caught up in Akhilleus' anger and revenge. There was also the theme of Akhilleus' battle between acting like an immortal when he was only a demi-god vs. Menelaos' humanity. This is indeed a classic, and a "must-read" for all (even though I am hoping I only have to endure it once!).    hide

I'm quite a few books into it now (I've never read it until now) and I love how fickle and tempestuous all the characters (including the Gods) are. This book (so far) seems to be the timeless classic about self-serving, war-mongering fucks all over the world that I was expecting it to be.