The Iliad Paperback – January 2, 2016

Satisfied

Great poetry to enjoy and tring to find these people in ancient hittite text is fun

I note that I read the E. V. Rieu translation....I lack the knowledge to give a learned opinion on "The Iliad," either on its cultural significance over the millenia, or the historical insights that it provides, or on which person or group of people composed it. Back in high school, I did take ancient Greek for two years, during which we read part of "The Odyssey" in Greek. I remember almost nothing from that: the Greek alphabet, yes; the grammar, vocabulary, and the literature, no. I read "The Iliad" around then, but largely forgot it too.I can report that I am glad to have re-read it, and that I have profited from the experience. The book is of interest in itself, separated from the impact it had as a foundational part of the Western canon. Observations that many others have made with which I agree: it is notable that the book begins nine years into the siege of Troy and that it covers a relatively short time-frame, stopping before Troy falls to the Achaeans; it is notable that wounds are described in gory detail, that at times even the great warriors flee in terror, that the warriors weep and wail; it is notable how un-heroic the heroes are: Achilles sulks and broods; Agamemnon is merciless, arrogant, irresponsible, genocidal; Hector flees.I doubt "The Iliad" was intended or perceived as an anti-war book, but it certainly doesn't paint a glorious picture of noble heroes valiantly dying for a great cause. Despite this, the participants appear to see warfare as worthy, witness Hector's wish for his baby son, "Let him bring home the bloodstained armor of the enemy he has killed, and make his mother happy."I was never proficient enough at Greek to appreciate the poetic merit of Homer, but E. V. Rieu's translation includes some beautiful passages, such as: "There are nights when the upper air is windless and the stars in heaven stand out in their full splendor round the bright moon; when every mountain-top and headland and ravine starts into sight, as the infinite depths of the sky are torn open to the very firmament; when every star is seen, and the shepherd rejoices. Such and so many were the Trojans' fires, twinkling in front of Ilium..."Millenia have passed since "The Iliad" was created. Much has changed, and I found some of these changes almost comically striking, e.g. how often "The Iliad" cites tripods (yes, tripods) as magnificent treasures. To me, the most striking thing of all is that despite the passage of time, the story still speaks of things that matter to us, that move us. Anger. Violence. Grief. Love.

What a book. Glad I didn't live in those times, but love reading about them. I was first not interested in reading Homer, but he got me in the first pages. I highly recommend!

In high school we read a few excerpts from ancient Greek literature, which to tell the truth gave me a very bad taste. This past semester, because of the honors curriculum at the university I attend, I am taking a World Literature course which focused mostly on ancient Greek but also some Roman literature. This book, The Iliad, was the second on our list for the semester and when I first received it through the mail the only thing I could think of was how long it was. We started the book and I was slightly lost at the beginning. I did not have a solid understanding of how to read it mostly because of the closed minded idea I had from my first experience. Once we began the discussion in class, however, I realized that this was truly a wonderful book. Its exciting and has a little bit of everything: passion, war, hatred, love, and even some twisted humor. I can honestly say this is a fantastic book and easy to learn if you give it a chance, I would recommend it for anyone who is looking for a gripping book to read.

I agree with almost everything Bruce Trinque says in his review... with one obvious exception, so I'll concentrate on that.Given that with Verity the reader is "getting something that hews quite closely to the original" for a variety of reasons, and despite that it's "not the finest English poetic rendition" but "may well be the best way for an Enflish (sic) language reader to best approach the real heart of the Iliad," I would suggest that it is, in fact, close to perfect for the first time reader. In my opinion, it's also impressive for those already familiar with the poem, both in the Greek and in other translations.Also, I would recommend that first time readers avoid like the plague both Fagles' and Mitchell's versions, the former vastly overwritten and the latter vastly underwritten. That's not to say that Fagles and Michell have produced unreadable versions, but both are very definitely "based on" the Greek text as opposed to being an attempt to faithfully reproduce the Greek text into English, which is what Verity is attempting and largely succeeds in doing. For what it's worth, I admire both the Fagles and Mitchell versions.Lattimore's translation comes closest to Verity's in form and spirit and is venerated, justly, by many, but I prefer Verity's on the grounds that it's less cumbersome in expression, a fault which Lattimore falls into surprisingly often, and Verity seldom makes straightforward translation errors, which crop up in Lattimore more often than one might expect.My only serious objection to Verity is that he frequently alters the expression of what are verbatim repetitions in the Greek, almost as if he were trying to disguise the immense volume of such occurences in the original.However, if I were recommending a translation for first time readers, Verity's would come first with Lattimore's a close second.

There are many version of Iliad in the market but I always like Chiltern. It’s high quality, affordable and pocket size. One more for my Chiltern collection.