The Iliad of Homer

Nice volume - the 60 page introduction by a classics professor is practically a book in itself. The test is well translated and easy to read in a nice printing format.

The Illiad is not an easy read due to the number of characters and their relationships with others. It's a mental exercise until you get the hang of it. The thing is that you don't have to know every little thing that's going on between these characters to enjoy the story. But if you do want to know, the author has written a really nice appendix to get to the details. It's also really helpful to have Google to look up some of the details in which would be out of the scope of the book to provide. Definitely an educational and fun read and research challenge. Many things that I did not know about the Greek gods and their interactions with mortals on virtually every level. And I mean 'every'. Seems that the gods needed the mortals more than the other way around.

I’ve read several novelized, modern versions of The Iliad but never got around to the actual Iliad (if we can call an English language Iliad “actual”). Or maybe I tried it once in another version that I couldn’t stick with. But I really like this one. I’m only about halfway through. I’m an old man who’s been known to fall asleep trying to read or listen to the most exciting thriller, so I’ve mostly been listening to this while I’m out working in the yard. For some reason, it seems perfect for that. The narrator’s voice and delivery are wonderful and the translation is modern enough that it flows like a novel, but it still has a kind of poetic quality to it. I love the short musical interludes between the books (chapters), which give me time to dig my phone out of my pocket and pause the recording if I want to. My only complaint is that the publisher made an introduction (which I skipped) “Chapter One” so that Book One (The Iliad is divided into 24 “books”) is Chapter Two and so on. Makes you wonder why someone did not notice this and simply label the introduction separately and correspond the chapters with the books to avoid confusion.

Look, the Iliad's always going to be a good story, no matter what translation you use. But how good do you want it? I teach mythology and epic literature on the high school level, and I've always used Lattimore's translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. They preserve the LONG dactylic hexameter line of the Greeks, in the process preserving the stately formality of the language, the epithets, the epic similes. the ring construction, and all of those other things that only English teachers know! What the everyday reader will get from this book is sheer beauty. I could not tell you how many times I've read the Iliad (surely over 100), and I never fail to be moved to tears by certain parts. Fagles doesn't do that for me and neither does Lombardo or really, any other translation. You have to work for that emotion, no doubt. But it's so worth it. You will not find a more stunning description of Achilles screaming (with his HEAD on fire!) at the Trojan lines after the death of Patroklos "There he stood, and shouted and from her place Pallas Athene gave cry, and drove an endless terror upon the Trojans. As loud as comes the voice that is screamed out by a trumpet by murderous attackers who belelaguer a city, so then high and clear went up the voice of Aiakides. But the Trojans, when they hear the brazen voice of Aiakides, the heart was shaken in all, and the very floating-maned horses turned their chariots about..." Sure, other translations may be easier to read. It's like the difference between the King James Bible and one of those newer translations. What you might possibly gain in clarity, you lose in beauty and majesty. I wrote this on the Odyssey translation - I just don't feel that Homer should be vernacularized. He is perfect, just the way he is. The closer we can stick to that. the better, in my opinion. I drive my 9th grade classes through this book every year. You can read it, too. Glad to see it's on Kindle, too.

Great quality, great translation.

If you are looking for an English translation that maintains fidelity to Greek then this is it. I have purchased both Iliad and Odyssey.

A brilliant publication with an introduction and index. Ideal indentations. Fine paper. The spine does not even crease. The cover art leaves much to be desired however.

Indeed a great translation of the Iliad, that provides the clear text structure of the original. I don't recommend to buy it for the sake of prephrase. The only map in it is taken from other books (like the oxrord history of the classical world) and can be found elsewhere. The explanations themselves do not clear out the meaning of the poem before you read it. After the reading they are meaningless. If you need a reference, use encyclopedias or other research texts. (Google will also work)

A “Ilíada”, à exceção do Javista – autor de Gênesis, Êxodo e Números –, Dante e Shakespeare, é o escrito mais extraordinário produzido no Ocidente, e quem não lê grego antigo pode se valer muito bem de uma guirlanda de ótimos tradutores em inglês, incluindo Richmond Lattimore, Robert Fitzgerald e Robert Fagles. Lendo o épico, temos a impressão de que os deuses são uma conveniência do processo narrativo. Mas o poema raramente nos deixa esquecer que os homens morrem, enquanto os deuses vivem para sempre, contentes na contemplação do nosso sofrer. Zeus não é pai de ninguém; Zeus não nos salva. Conforme observa Richmond Lattimore, os olímpios de Homero são, antes de tudo, homens e mulheres imortais, não superiores à nós, humanos, e raramente se apresentam como paradigmas de sabedoria. Na verdade os deuses se parecem no poema mais com os humanos e os humanos mais com os deuses. Aquiles é máquina mortífera porque almeja a imortalidade de um deus, mas o seu pai humano intima a morte do herói. Assim, Aquiles destrói seres humanos dentro de uma guerra pessoal travado contra a própria morte, a exemplo de uma criança capaz de mutilar um filhote de gato já ferido. O épico em questão é a tragédia de Aquiles, ironicamente, pois ele garante a vitória, mas não consegue superar a amargura da constatação da própria mortalidade. Homero contempla a sujeição da força humana à força dos deuses e do destino; não são espíritos aprisionados na matéria, mas forças ou instintos que vivem, percebem e sentem. “Consideram-se um campo de batalha onde entram em conflito forças arbitrárias e poderes sinistros.” Aquiles e Heitor são figuras bastantes distintas, de vez que não conseguimos visualizar Aquiles inserido na vida cotidiana de alguma cidade, mas ambos glorificam a batalha. Amigo leitor, atente para uma detalhe importante: os guerreiros do épico eram fazendeiros antes da guerra começar; eles já se apropriavam de grãos e frutas como se fossem espólios, na luta com a natureza. Isso contribui para explicar por que a “Ilíada” não se detém a louvar a guerra, pois a realidade, em si, já é uma luta constante, em que nada de valor pode ser obtido sem que alguém ou algo seja pilhado ou arruinado. Assim, competir pela vitória era o ideal homérico. Boa leitura.