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NEW-The Iliad
Brand New Deliver In 6-18 Working Days
- GenresClassics
683 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1991
28 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Homer
4,713 books7,028 followersHomer (Greek: Όμηρος born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.
The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.
French: Homère, Italian: Omero, Portuguese, Spanish: Homero.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.
The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.
French: Homère, Italian: Omero, Portuguese, Spanish: Homero.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 27, 2025
I finally have read this foundational epic because I joined The Hard ore Literature Book Club online. I highly recommend that book club if you want to read the classics and feel like you are in a college lit class with a great professor. I’m so glad I read this with all its famous names and places that are referenced so much in our culture.
February 24, 2025
I am so glad to have revisited this book. High school me read it dutifully and gained nothing from it besides the timid fascination of myth. I feel now that i’ve truly gained a sense of the emotion, the grandness and the tragedy of the time. It was very dense still, and a hard read for me at times , especially when homer would describe page after page people that I would know for 1 day before they were brutally murdered. It’s also set JUST in the thick of the Trojan War, and war has never been an interest of mine (besides negative interest) save for greek myth. But once I got past that, I felt the rush of it, the dark humor injected even in the most tragic parts, and the desperation of this ancient push and pull between humans and the gods. After having read so many retellings of these character’s myths, it was thoroughly intriguing to read the origins of them. Achilles cruelness, which had been smoothed out by my favorite retelling authors, was on full display. Agamemnon’s noble nature which had been vilified for me in other stories, was rationalized in a completely different light. And the cold and unforgiving divinity of the Gods was on full display as I hadn’t seen it for years. I think when I reread the Odyssey, I will absolutely enjoy it more than this, but I am so glad that i’ve read it and can reference it now as I continue to read contemporary perspectives of greek myth, and even older works inspired by it. Robert Fagles translation was great to me and injected wonderfully the tone of it as I picture these stories were sung by the Bards of the time. Great story Homer we love you 😎
October 10, 2025
The Iliad is an incredibly moving piece of literature. Ancient Greece is a distant and strange world and I felt like reading the Iliad allowed me to dip into their consciousness at least a bit. What feels most striking and pressing all throughout the poem is the persistent reminder of the inevitability of death. I felt it hovering over everything and it gave a sense of sadness and desperation to every character’s story. The awareness of their own mortality drives them to obtain immortality in the form of glory - in having their name remembered in poems (like the Iliad) passed down for ages. These men are there in battle to obtain this everlasting glory even at the very high risk of dying early. Especially Achilles who was actually given a choice of two fates - he can fight at Troy and his glory and fame will never die or he can go home and live a longer life but no glory will survive him. The first option is the only one that allows any form of immortality. I find it very hard to relate to choosing an earlier death with everlasting fame. But this did make me think about being faced with risks in life for something that you dream of doing and how avoiding those risks and dreams can result in making your life feel more meaningless.
The gods in the story are deathless which gave an even greater contrast and emphasis on the mortality of the humans characters. The gods often manifest themselves as human impulses, intuition, and that silent connection between humans and groups of people that I don’t think we have a name for. For example Ares the god of war gets the adrenaline running through a man’s body to prepare them for war and spreads it through the troops the way we feel group energy like a wave rippling through and grabbing a hold of everybody. I also liked when a god would speak encouragement or advice to a mortal through one of his friends. This reminds me of moments when someone speaks something to you that really resonates and stays with you. The Iliad shows how this bit of divine spirit is in all of us, connects all as humans and to the world beyond death.
The poem, similar to I think a lot of other classic greek literature, also stresses the importance of not placing yourself above the gods or failing to honor them. I think this is a true reminder that you reward yourself when you maintain grace and humility and it reflects the importance of maintaining a balance between acceptance for the way things go in life versus using your free will to change things.
Besides all these things the Iliad had me thinking about, the story itself was very thrilling and beautifully crafted and I understand now why it is considered one of the greatest classics. It is a masterpiece! There were moments with a surprising amount of realism that really struck me. The moment is struck me the most in this way was in the absolutely incredible ending scene where Priam goes to Achilles to get his son Hector’s body back. After Priam dines with the man who killed his sons including his favorite one Hector they just sit there gazing at each other, Priam taking in Achilles’ beauty, Achilles looking at the man whos son killed his best friend. This moment gave me chills especially given all the deep grief each of them went through. There were many scenes that felt so cinematic that I was wishing very badly that a faithful film adaptation existed. One of these awesome scenes was when Achilles’ mother the goddess Thetis went to the home of the god Hephaestus to ask him to create a new set of gorgeous armor for her son so he can finally re-enter battle. She is warmly greeted as he is limping around his blacksmith’s forge making cauldrons. More than one hundred lines are devoted to the intricate scenes forged on the shield which gives a fascinating glimpse into the customs and values of the time.
Out of anything I have read, the Iliad is the book I most wanted to started reading again immediately after I finished it. It offers so much - a culture to fathom far from ours but also plenty of themes that will probably always be resonant to human beings. I also get so attached to the characters. I really liked Diomedes and I had a lot of empathy for Hector. Poor Hector.
I should also mention that this translation was awesome - I tried a couple others before I came to the Fagles translation and I couldn't get into them. When I picked up Fagles, I could not put it down. It just flows.
The gods in the story are deathless which gave an even greater contrast and emphasis on the mortality of the humans characters. The gods often manifest themselves as human impulses, intuition, and that silent connection between humans and groups of people that I don’t think we have a name for. For example Ares the god of war gets the adrenaline running through a man’s body to prepare them for war and spreads it through the troops the way we feel group energy like a wave rippling through and grabbing a hold of everybody. I also liked when a god would speak encouragement or advice to a mortal through one of his friends. This reminds me of moments when someone speaks something to you that really resonates and stays with you. The Iliad shows how this bit of divine spirit is in all of us, connects all as humans and to the world beyond death.
The poem, similar to I think a lot of other classic greek literature, also stresses the importance of not placing yourself above the gods or failing to honor them. I think this is a true reminder that you reward yourself when you maintain grace and humility and it reflects the importance of maintaining a balance between acceptance for the way things go in life versus using your free will to change things.
Besides all these things the Iliad had me thinking about, the story itself was very thrilling and beautifully crafted and I understand now why it is considered one of the greatest classics. It is a masterpiece! There were moments with a surprising amount of realism that really struck me. The moment is struck me the most in this way was in the absolutely incredible ending scene where Priam goes to Achilles to get his son Hector’s body back. After Priam dines with the man who killed his sons including his favorite one Hector they just sit there gazing at each other, Priam taking in Achilles’ beauty, Achilles looking at the man whos son killed his best friend. This moment gave me chills especially given all the deep grief each of them went through. There were many scenes that felt so cinematic that I was wishing very badly that a faithful film adaptation existed. One of these awesome scenes was when Achilles’ mother the goddess Thetis went to the home of the god Hephaestus to ask him to create a new set of gorgeous armor for her son so he can finally re-enter battle. She is warmly greeted as he is limping around his blacksmith’s forge making cauldrons. More than one hundred lines are devoted to the intricate scenes forged on the shield which gives a fascinating glimpse into the customs and values of the time.
Out of anything I have read, the Iliad is the book I most wanted to started reading again immediately after I finished it. It offers so much - a culture to fathom far from ours but also plenty of themes that will probably always be resonant to human beings. I also get so attached to the characters. I really liked Diomedes and I had a lot of empathy for Hector. Poor Hector.
I should also mention that this translation was awesome - I tried a couple others before I came to the Fagles translation and I couldn't get into them. When I picked up Fagles, I could not put it down. It just flows.
November 14, 2025
RIP Hector, you deserved better. Really did not like Achilles, was very happy when Patroclus died. This translation is incredible, it flows well and the language is so incredibly rich, especially the similes.
"Lord Marshal Agamemnon rose up in their midst, streaming tears like a dark spring running down some desolate rock face, its shaded currents flowing."
The worldview presented in the Iliad is strange to interact with, being at once utterly alien and strongly familiar. In some cases I was swept away by the glory and the splendor of the heroic lifestyle presented by the characters, such as with Sarpedon's speech, but at other times I felt deeply the tragedies and even the horror of the book, such as the destined fate of Troy and its women and children, or the senseless slaughter of so many.
The book is greatly enhanced for me by putting it in historical context, that being distant and distorted recollections of some great Bronze Age war or raid, whose details outside of the Iliad are all but lost outside of the barest glimpses through archaeology, such as with references by the Hittites to an "Aleksandu" (Alexander) ruling in Wilusa (Ilion=Troy), or depictions of Ahhiyawan warriors on potshards in Hattusa matching descriptions of Homeric heroes, or mentions by the Egyptians of marauding "Ekwesh" and "Denyen" raiders (Achaean and Danaan respectively). There are even references from Neo-Hittite inscriptions from the Iron Age to possible Mycenaean activities during the Bronze Age, such as with the terms "Danunian", "Hiyawan", and "House of Muksus" (Danaans, Ahhiyawa=Achaean, Mopsos). It feels like trying to put together a thousand piece puzzle with just a couple dozen pieces. So much mystique!
It makes me wonder just how many stories like the Iliad were lost to history, either because they were never written down or all written copies were lost or cannot be translated. I imagine every culture, past and present, had similar epics, with their own themes and heroes, traditions etc.
"Lord Marshal Agamemnon rose up in their midst, streaming tears like a dark spring running down some desolate rock face, its shaded currents flowing."
The worldview presented in the Iliad is strange to interact with, being at once utterly alien and strongly familiar. In some cases I was swept away by the glory and the splendor of the heroic lifestyle presented by the characters, such as with Sarpedon's speech, but at other times I felt deeply the tragedies and even the horror of the book, such as the destined fate of Troy and its women and children, or the senseless slaughter of so many.
The book is greatly enhanced for me by putting it in historical context, that being distant and distorted recollections of some great Bronze Age war or raid, whose details outside of the Iliad are all but lost outside of the barest glimpses through archaeology, such as with references by the Hittites to an "Aleksandu" (Alexander) ruling in Wilusa (Ilion=Troy), or depictions of Ahhiyawan warriors on potshards in Hattusa matching descriptions of Homeric heroes, or mentions by the Egyptians of marauding "Ekwesh" and "Denyen" raiders (Achaean and Danaan respectively). There are even references from Neo-Hittite inscriptions from the Iron Age to possible Mycenaean activities during the Bronze Age, such as with the terms "Danunian", "Hiyawan", and "House of Muksus" (Danaans, Ahhiyawa=Achaean, Mopsos). It feels like trying to put together a thousand piece puzzle with just a couple dozen pieces. So much mystique!
It makes me wonder just how many stories like the Iliad were lost to history, either because they were never written down or all written copies were lost or cannot be translated. I imagine every culture, past and present, had similar epics, with their own themes and heroes, traditions etc.
June 15, 2025
I finally read this book! I figured since it is one of the first novels ever written, it's about time I get around to it. A few of my main thoughts:
- The entire book was one battle. All of the different fighting, a decent amount of backstory for the key players, but all in the narrative of the battle. I was surprised. I thought it was only modern fantasy books that relied on battles to get people excited and turning pages, but I guess they're just following the pattern from thousands of years ago.
- this book was game of thrones graphic. i was pretty surprised by how the author described the damage from the weapons. I guess the ancient greeks also liked the gore stuff that is pretty popular today.
- there is thought that this evolved from a spoken tale. And that these types of stories often have ditty's (for lack of a better word) surrounding people. Like Achilles, the great runner. And they often repeat these. I definitely recognized that pattern throughout the book.
- Achilles is definitely a punk. He was mad, and probably rightfully so, but he sat on the sideline and let everyone get destroyed. But then when he finally took the field, he was pretty wild.
- The way the gods and fate played such a large role in the narrative gave good insight into why Epicurus was so adamant in shutting down any belief in the gods. It basically made humans playthings for the immortals and defeats any sort of free will or purpose for living. But, if this was a core story in their generation (similar to say, the bible), i can see how that would be a tall order.
Overall, really glad to read the book! I definitely got pulled into it, which is always fun to be able to connect with a classic!
- The entire book was one battle. All of the different fighting, a decent amount of backstory for the key players, but all in the narrative of the battle. I was surprised. I thought it was only modern fantasy books that relied on battles to get people excited and turning pages, but I guess they're just following the pattern from thousands of years ago.
- this book was game of thrones graphic. i was pretty surprised by how the author described the damage from the weapons. I guess the ancient greeks also liked the gore stuff that is pretty popular today.
- there is thought that this evolved from a spoken tale. And that these types of stories often have ditty's (for lack of a better word) surrounding people. Like Achilles, the great runner. And they often repeat these. I definitely recognized that pattern throughout the book.
- Achilles is definitely a punk. He was mad, and probably rightfully so, but he sat on the sideline and let everyone get destroyed. But then when he finally took the field, he was pretty wild.
- The way the gods and fate played such a large role in the narrative gave good insight into why Epicurus was so adamant in shutting down any belief in the gods. It basically made humans playthings for the immortals and defeats any sort of free will or purpose for living. But, if this was a core story in their generation (similar to say, the bible), i can see how that would be a tall order.
Overall, really glad to read the book! I definitely got pulled into it, which is always fun to be able to connect with a classic!
January 8, 2025
Epic, I am glad I finally gave it the time it deserved. As a new father, Hector and his family hit me to the heart. Knowing he dies, I was sorrowful as he departs the city and bids goodbye to his son. The horror and turmoil of battle is shown here better than even many Vietnam War books.
Absolutely will read again.
Absolutely will read again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2025
#achillesfanclub (lowkey)
April 7, 2025
I like Fagles’s translation, but I’ve liked other translations more. For a simple war story like this, I’d prefer less academic language
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August 21, 2025Derivative
September 6, 2025
Book 22 ❤️🩹
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews