What do you think?
Rate this book
Homer's Iliad
Classic Robert Fagles translation of Homer's Illiad. Collector's edition
688 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1997
About the author
Homer
5,114 books7,364 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 7, 2025
I can finally say that I’ve read the Iliad cover-to-cover. It only took me about a decade to actually do it (coincidently the same period of time it took the Achaeans to sack Troy’s heights), and this time with a months-long break in the reading.
Rieu’s translation is quite good and readable. I think I like Fagle’s translation best (I listened to the abridged version years back), but Rieu is an able translator of Homer’s martial epic. You get some sense of the rhythm of the original (though it is a prose translation), which is excellent.
The Iliad is, perhaps, the book (other than the Bible) that most inhabits my mind. Though much of this tale of Achilles’ wrath and the great battles between heroes and gods is quite foreign to us now (we would never dream of giving women as prizes for athletic contests nor sacrificing 12 Trojan youth to appease the departed soul of our best friend), much is not so foreign. Achilles’ anger over being slighted by Agamemnon is fed by the feeling of being unappreciated and punished for something entirely outside of one’s control. Priam’s visitation to Achilles’ tent to beg for Hector’s body conjures emotion in every reader - who now would not be moved by the sight of an old man kissing the hands of his son’s killer?
Despite the constant interludes of gods doing reckless and futile Greek-god-things, the Iliad is a deeply human epic.
Rieu’s translation is quite good and readable. I think I like Fagle’s translation best (I listened to the abridged version years back), but Rieu is an able translator of Homer’s martial epic. You get some sense of the rhythm of the original (though it is a prose translation), which is excellent.
The Iliad is, perhaps, the book (other than the Bible) that most inhabits my mind. Though much of this tale of Achilles’ wrath and the great battles between heroes and gods is quite foreign to us now (we would never dream of giving women as prizes for athletic contests nor sacrificing 12 Trojan youth to appease the departed soul of our best friend), much is not so foreign. Achilles’ anger over being slighted by Agamemnon is fed by the feeling of being unappreciated and punished for something entirely outside of one’s control. Priam’s visitation to Achilles’ tent to beg for Hector’s body conjures emotion in every reader - who now would not be moved by the sight of an old man kissing the hands of his son’s killer?
Despite the constant interludes of gods doing reckless and futile Greek-god-things, the Iliad is a deeply human epic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2025
I originally got this book due to my love for Epic the Musical... I wanted to read this book and then read The Odyssey (since epic is based off The Odyssey the second book)
**slight spoiler?**
there was only fighting and a bunch of names you really don't need to remember because they will die right after being mentioned. I haven't read the Odyssey YET but I will assume you don't need to read this to get into The Odyssey
when I started reading this book the language was very confusing and hard to understand but after powering through i started to understand Homer's writing. The death scenes were unique everytime which made it not super boring to read. There's like 400 pages of this crap. I normally read fantasy and romance so ignore my boredom if this is your type of book, but I couldn't stand it, half way through I switched to listening to an audio book just to get through it. the only redeeming quality I would say is the humor I found when they insulted eachother, it was very intricate and rude but hilarious when character would insult or taunt eachother. if you are reading this as an epic fan SKIP (I will update when I read The Odyssey if its really important)
**slight spoiler?**
there was only fighting and a bunch of names you really don't need to remember because they will die right after being mentioned. I haven't read the Odyssey YET but I will assume you don't need to read this to get into The Odyssey
when I started reading this book the language was very confusing and hard to understand but after powering through i started to understand Homer's writing. The death scenes were unique everytime which made it not super boring to read. There's like 400 pages of this crap. I normally read fantasy and romance so ignore my boredom if this is your type of book, but I couldn't stand it, half way through I switched to listening to an audio book just to get through it. the only redeeming quality I would say is the humor I found when they insulted eachother, it was very intricate and rude but hilarious when character would insult or taunt eachother. if you are reading this as an epic fan SKIP (I will update when I read The Odyssey if its really important)
January 27, 2026
Names are even harder to follow than a Dostoevsky book. Definitely cool to read and to get a historical perspective on these real events, but the role of the Gods is somewhat infuriating as it leaves nothing up to chance and basically spoils the story by Zeus saying what he is going to make happen. Achilles' vengeance tour was pretty awesome. Odysseus was so cool, especially in the beginning, looking forward to reading the Odyssey.
April 6, 2026
There is nothing I can say about Homer's Iliad itself that hasn't already been said, so I am just going to comment on this edition and the translation it contains.
I am reviewing the hardback "Penguin Clothbound Classics" edition. It is a beautiful book - a joy to hold and read from. (I now have six books published in this series, and they are all gorgeous-looking books.)
The translation is an update of E.V. Rieu's 1950 prose translation. The revisions and updating have been carried out by Peter Jones and Rieu's son Dominic. The book also contains an excellent introduction by Jones, as well as useful summaries of each of the 24 "books" (chapters).
The Iliad was sung and then written down in Greek verse, and many translators try to render it in verse form in English. But I have read several different translations over the years, and, for me, the existing verse translations are not really satisfactory as verse. On the one hand there are Pope’s repetitive rhyming couplets in eighteenth-century English. On the other hand there are the modern versions by Lattimore, Fitzgerald and Fagles, which are powerful (especially Fagles), but which are metrically not very regular, making it difficult to follow the metre and difficult to keep yourself reading them as verse. (Too much “free verse” influence?) (Also, Fitzgerald’s and Fagles’ translations, especially Fagles’, are said to be rather “loose”.)
So I go along with those who say that a good prose translation can be more powerful and beautiful (and closer to Homer) than an unsatisfying verse one. And this Rieu/Jones translation is certainly a very good one. To illustrate this, I'll end with with a paragraph from Book Four, where battle is joined:
"The armies advanced and met in a single space with a clash of shields, spears and bronze-armoured warriors. The bossed shields collided and a great roar went up - the screams of the dying, the jeers of the victors - and the earth ran with blood. As two mountain rivers in winter, fed by their great springs higher up, meet in full spate in some deep ravine, while far off in the mountains a shepherd hears the thunder, such were the yelling and turmoil as the two armies came to grips."
I am reviewing the hardback "Penguin Clothbound Classics" edition. It is a beautiful book - a joy to hold and read from. (I now have six books published in this series, and they are all gorgeous-looking books.)
The translation is an update of E.V. Rieu's 1950 prose translation. The revisions and updating have been carried out by Peter Jones and Rieu's son Dominic. The book also contains an excellent introduction by Jones, as well as useful summaries of each of the 24 "books" (chapters).
The Iliad was sung and then written down in Greek verse, and many translators try to render it in verse form in English. But I have read several different translations over the years, and, for me, the existing verse translations are not really satisfactory as verse. On the one hand there are Pope’s repetitive rhyming couplets in eighteenth-century English. On the other hand there are the modern versions by Lattimore, Fitzgerald and Fagles, which are powerful (especially Fagles), but which are metrically not very regular, making it difficult to follow the metre and difficult to keep yourself reading them as verse. (Too much “free verse” influence?) (Also, Fitzgerald’s and Fagles’ translations, especially Fagles’, are said to be rather “loose”.)
So I go along with those who say that a good prose translation can be more powerful and beautiful (and closer to Homer) than an unsatisfying verse one. And this Rieu/Jones translation is certainly a very good one. To illustrate this, I'll end with with a paragraph from Book Four, where battle is joined:
"The armies advanced and met in a single space with a clash of shields, spears and bronze-armoured warriors. The bossed shields collided and a great roar went up - the screams of the dying, the jeers of the victors - and the earth ran with blood. As two mountain rivers in winter, fed by their great springs higher up, meet in full spate in some deep ravine, while far off in the mountains a shepherd hears the thunder, such were the yelling and turmoil as the two armies came to grips."
April 30, 2026
my husband vanished for 20 years. nice to know what he was up to I guess? he got shot I guess. and won some wrestling match.
July 5, 2025
This was an unexpectedly difficult read, but not because of the translation. The translation is beautiful, poetic in its own right. Soo many descriptions of death-- each one unique, honored. That's quite a feat.
I read The Iliad without relying on the Internet for anything beyond context. Wanted to apply my own brain to this for a change.
What struck me first were the pastoral descriptions of war. Homer harvests words of war from fields of grain, from flies swarming at cream, from sheep huddled together, from all manner of livestock, trees, stones.
It serves the purpose-- the contrast between what men do in peacetime, versus what these men are actually doing at war.
Iliad could be renamed 50 Shades of Anger. Actually, the emphasis on anger threw me off at first. I clocked pride and honor immediately, (pretty freakin' obvious) but it wasn't until I felt like I was missing something, that I went looking for more masculine themes. This is a story of men, for men. Why did the characters seem same -y and what was I missing? In describing my problem to a coworker, I said Achilles was "angry" and that Agamemnon was "angry" and Hector was "angry" and then I realized it...
That's just not specific enough :
These characters exhibit rage, battle frenzy, outrage, frustration, defensive anger, passive aggressive anger, outright aggression, jealous rage, petty irritation, annoyance, upset, righteous anger, vengeance.
It's unbelievable how that alone unlocked the story for me. All I had to do was pay a little closer attention to their shifts in tone and the "flavor" of each guy's anger problems. Then suddenly all their motivations made more sense, and the cautionary intent of the story became more obvious to me...and questions. So many questions about whose anger was justified and why....
Tangent: The Iliad is such a masculine story that I did not expect the narrative to make me feel as bad for Helen as I did.
Another Tangent: I do believe I need to go back and read about the Greeks and their concept of love in order to fully understand Patroclus and Achilles. I get the feeling that "lovers" is too strong a word to describe then, but "comrades" is not nearly strong enough . I get the whole "they were roommates " phenomenon could also be in play here, but I think
I will research this further at some point.
Honestly, this insight into the emotions of the Greeks was really different and thought provoking overall. Reading this made me consider ALL of the rhetoric: who this was written for, how it was performed/recited and to whom , the purpose or served then versus the purpose it serves now.
This was a tough but thoroughly fascinating read.
I read The Iliad without relying on the Internet for anything beyond context. Wanted to apply my own brain to this for a change.
What struck me first were the pastoral descriptions of war. Homer harvests words of war from fields of grain, from flies swarming at cream, from sheep huddled together, from all manner of livestock, trees, stones.
It serves the purpose-- the contrast between what men do in peacetime, versus what these men are actually doing at war.
Iliad could be renamed 50 Shades of Anger. Actually, the emphasis on anger threw me off at first. I clocked pride and honor immediately, (pretty freakin' obvious) but it wasn't until I felt like I was missing something, that I went looking for more masculine themes. This is a story of men, for men. Why did the characters seem same -y and what was I missing? In describing my problem to a coworker, I said Achilles was "angry" and that Agamemnon was "angry" and Hector was "angry" and then I realized it...
That's just not specific enough :
These characters exhibit rage, battle frenzy, outrage, frustration, defensive anger, passive aggressive anger, outright aggression, jealous rage, petty irritation, annoyance, upset, righteous anger, vengeance.
It's unbelievable how that alone unlocked the story for me. All I had to do was pay a little closer attention to their shifts in tone and the "flavor" of each guy's anger problems. Then suddenly all their motivations made more sense, and the cautionary intent of the story became more obvious to me...and questions. So many questions about whose anger was justified and why....
Tangent: The Iliad is such a masculine story that I did not expect the narrative to make me feel as bad for Helen as I did.
Another Tangent: I do believe I need to go back and read about the Greeks and their concept of love in order to fully understand Patroclus and Achilles. I get the feeling that "lovers" is too strong a word to describe then, but "comrades" is not nearly strong enough . I get the whole "they were roommates " phenomenon could also be in play here, but I think
I will research this further at some point.
Honestly, this insight into the emotions of the Greeks was really different and thought provoking overall. Reading this made me consider ALL of the rhetoric: who this was written for, how it was performed/recited and to whom , the purpose or served then versus the purpose it serves now.
This was a tough but thoroughly fascinating read.
December 21, 2024
My first book on Greek mythology. The story seems a bit too simple to me. The backstories might be interesting however they are not mentioned in the book except the small summaries. Like the small stories about prophecies related to Achilles etc might have been nice.
This book had excellent description of the war scenes. One of the best that I have read. However, I find the story a bit strange in the sense that the gods have so much power that no matter what you are or what you do, you still have to end up with the result that Gods wished for.
I find the meddling by the gods a bit too much. But maybe that's how the Greek epics are. This epic makes me think that no matter what you do or what you are, you cannot change fate (or god's wish). This is something that I don't believe in. So that is a bit strange of a message for me.
Moreover at least in this edition, I am not able to choose a side. Both sides have good reasons to be the wining parties in the war.
I also liked how Achilles stood up to his senior Agemmenon and how devoted he was to his friend Patroclus.
Also I find it interesting that Hector really criticizes Paris for his actions which have led to the war. But at the same time, he recognises his duty and leads the Trojans in war. I still don't fully get, as to why Hector did not banish Paris from kingdom to avoid the war. For this a backstory could have helped
This book had excellent description of the war scenes. One of the best that I have read. However, I find the story a bit strange in the sense that the gods have so much power that no matter what you are or what you do, you still have to end up with the result that Gods wished for.
I find the meddling by the gods a bit too much. But maybe that's how the Greek epics are. This epic makes me think that no matter what you do or what you are, you cannot change fate (or god's wish). This is something that I don't believe in. So that is a bit strange of a message for me.
Moreover at least in this edition, I am not able to choose a side. Both sides have good reasons to be the wining parties in the war.
I also liked how Achilles stood up to his senior Agemmenon and how devoted he was to his friend Patroclus.
Also I find it interesting that Hector really criticizes Paris for his actions which have led to the war. But at the same time, he recognises his duty and leads the Trojans in war. I still don't fully get, as to why Hector did not banish Paris from kingdom to avoid the war. For this a backstory could have helped
April 4, 2026
“We men are wretched things, and the gods, who have no cares themselves, have woven sorrow into the very pattern of our lives...Zeus the Thunderer has two jars standing on the floor of his palace, in which he keeps his gifts, the evils in one and the blessings in the other.”
I’d hate to sleep in the tent next to Achilles and Patroclus’s (you know what kinda stuff they were getting up to)
I’d hate to sleep in the tent next to Achilles and Patroclus’s (you know what kinda stuff they were getting up to)
February 26, 2025
Un classique, seulement la traduction est datée, si je dois faire une relecture ce sera avec une traduction plus moderne, voir avec la traduction en vers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews