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Homer the Iliad
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 10, 2026
I found it quite difficult to get into - lots of characters with various origins. As I kept reading I enjoyed it more and more :) Very good story, a classic some may say…
3 stars and not 4 because although I found it interesting throughout and it was a good read, I didn’t feel overly gripped at any point.
3 stars and not 4 because although I found it interesting throughout and it was a good read, I didn’t feel overly gripped at any point.
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July 17, 2026Finally able to record the review I've been trying to all week:
Listening to The Iliad has been a really valuable and memorable experience.
As someone with a pretty loose familiarity of classical Greece through Assassin's Creed, a loose familiarity with the Greek pantheon of gods, and no prior exposure to bronze-age Greece, I learned so much through listening to this. That learning wasn't just through the contents of the books, but also the many questions it had me googling throughout my time listening to it. Most of my questions surrounded the Greeks' relationship with faith and theology, and with their relationship to their own undocumented history/folklore. It has bettered my understanding of western history and I found it all deeply interesting.
Alongside all of this, my experience with the story was interesting. I found this really challenging at the beginning due to several factors: the nature of the translation, the author's intent, the high number of characters, a culture I understood very little about, and my own inexperience with audiobooks. There were multiple times that I also had to use online sources to help me keep up with who everyone was, but once I found my feet, I found myself really enjoying this. As a Greek tragedy, the themes are obviously poignant and the characters relatable. By the end, I found myself emotionally involved with the characters and their struggles, and wishing better decisions were made (or willed).
This ended up being a really important listen for me in the end. It's played its part in further igniting my interest in western history and our relationship with it, all while telling a timeless tragedy with interesting social dynamics and compelling characters.
I look forward to Nolan's film adaptation of The Odyssey, and eventually picking the translation I think I'll get the most out of. Hell, I might even READ the next one (the odds aren't looking good)!"
Listening to The Iliad has been a really valuable and memorable experience.
As someone with a pretty loose familiarity of classical Greece through Assassin's Creed, a loose familiarity with the Greek pantheon of gods, and no prior exposure to bronze-age Greece, I learned so much through listening to this. That learning wasn't just through the contents of the books, but also the many questions it had me googling throughout my time listening to it. Most of my questions surrounded the Greeks' relationship with faith and theology, and with their relationship to their own undocumented history/folklore. It has bettered my understanding of western history and I found it all deeply interesting.
Alongside all of this, my experience with the story was interesting. I found this really challenging at the beginning due to several factors: the nature of the translation, the author's intent, the high number of characters, a culture I understood very little about, and my own inexperience with audiobooks. There were multiple times that I also had to use online sources to help me keep up with who everyone was, but once I found my feet, I found myself really enjoying this. As a Greek tragedy, the themes are obviously poignant and the characters relatable. By the end, I found myself emotionally involved with the characters and their struggles, and wishing better decisions were made (or willed).
This ended up being a really important listen for me in the end. It's played its part in further igniting my interest in western history and our relationship with it, all while telling a timeless tragedy with interesting social dynamics and compelling characters.
I look forward to Nolan's film adaptation of The Odyssey, and eventually picking the translation I think I'll get the most out of. Hell, I might even READ the next one (the odds aren't looking good)!"
September 6, 2026
J'étais persuadée qu'Achille mourrait à la fin de l'Iliade ? Je vais devoir me farcir l'Odyssée pour avoir le fin mot de l'histoire on dirait... Même si ce ne sera pas une grande surprise bien sûr.
En fait je trouve ça fascinant de lire des histoires tellement anciennes et donc libérées des contraintes des structures narratives modernes. Et malgré ça des instants d'humanité surgissent dans ce récit, comme la scène du casque d'Hector (homme capable x1000).
Cela dit j'avais une traduction un peu vintage et assez ampoulée, peut-être pas la meilleure manière de lire de ce poème.
En fait je trouve ça fascinant de lire des histoires tellement anciennes et donc libérées des contraintes des structures narratives modernes. Et malgré ça des instants d'humanité surgissent dans ce récit, comme la scène du casque d'Hector (homme capable x1000).
Cela dit j'avais une traduction un peu vintage et assez ampoulée, peut-être pas la meilleure manière de lire de ce poème.
September 7, 2026
3.5 -
A good read if you will, (although difficult in places) but this translation really does a great job of hammering home the key themes of this story / poem, particularly anger, sacrifice, and the consequences of our choices
Through Achilles’ rage that is first sparked by Agamemnon’s betrayal and later intensified by Patroclus’ death the reader is prompted to consider what is truly worth sacrificing in pursuit of honour, revenge, or pride
Achilles ultimately chooses revenge, fully aware that it will lead to his own death, making his story as much a tragedy as a tale of heroism
A good read if you will, (although difficult in places) but this translation really does a great job of hammering home the key themes of this story / poem, particularly anger, sacrifice, and the consequences of our choices
Through Achilles’ rage that is first sparked by Agamemnon’s betrayal and later intensified by Patroclus’ death the reader is prompted to consider what is truly worth sacrificing in pursuit of honour, revenge, or pride
Achilles ultimately chooses revenge, fully aware that it will lead to his own death, making his story as much a tragedy as a tale of heroism
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2026
Sorry 🥀
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.
August 21, 2026
I haven't read this since school and I'm not as surprised as I should be that I enjoyed it more now.
Because it's an old work (it IS a classic, after all) there's too many repetitions and "pointless things" for it to be a five star, I mean, so we REALLY need several pages describing a shield? Really? The answer is obviously a "yes" but still... Enjoyable read for my lunch breaks at work.
Because it's an old work (it IS a classic, after all) there's too many repetitions and "pointless things" for it to be a five star, I mean, so we REALLY need several pages describing a shield? Really? The answer is obviously a "yes" but still... Enjoyable read for my lunch breaks at work.
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)
September 12, 2025
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.
September 3, 2026
"War is not the main subject of the Iliad, nor heroism, but human suffering and death. The young men for all their godlike greatness, die: the old men, the women and children suffer and grieve: the gods, exempt from pain, look on."
Hve viðkvæmt, stutt og fljótt líf mannfólks getur endað, hvernig stolt og reiði getur í stundinni blint þig frá almennri skynsemi og hve tilgangslaust það er að berjast fyrir frægð og auðæfi þegar að þú deyrð snemmum dauða í leit þess að lokum.
Leiðtogar gera sjálfselsklega hluti sem bitna á þusundum manna undir þeim og dæmir þá í ónauðsynlegann dauðadag. Menn eru sentir í stríð ótengt þeim, myrtir á hörmulega vegu í þágu manna leiddir af eigin hagsmunum og stolti. Áhersla á harmleik stríðs er lögð með skörpum mótsanda við einfalda, fallega, saklausa líf mannana, hversu efnilegu og góðu lífi þeir lifðu, en eru nú ónauðsynlega myrtir á hörmulegann hátt; skildir eftir í moldinni, rotnandi og étnir af krákum, sem hefur afrekað lítið fyrir hagsmuni þeirra.
Homer leggur áherslu á hversu viðkvæmt og stutt líf mannfólks er með ódauðlegu og kraftmiklu guðunum sem að hugsa að sjálfsögðu lítið út í dauða né sársauka. Guðirnir halda með, hjálpa og rífast oft um sitthvora hliðina í stríðinu en að lokum hlæja aðeins um það að þeir hafa tekið dauðlegum mönnum og viðkvæmi þeirra alvarlega.
Þrátt fyrir allt þetta er söguþráðurinn skemmtilegur og spennandi með grípandi karakterum og einstaklega fallegum skriftarhætti. Þar sem þetta var upprunalega ljóð sem var aldrei skrifað heldur bara sungið eru allskonar reglur sem var fylgt til að leggja áherslu á mismunandi hluti sem gerir söguna eins spennandi og hægt var fyrir keisarana og fólkið á þeim tíma, sem helst uppi enn mörg hundruð árum síðar og mun einnig mörg hundruð ár í viðbót.
Hve viðkvæmt, stutt og fljótt líf mannfólks getur endað, hvernig stolt og reiði getur í stundinni blint þig frá almennri skynsemi og hve tilgangslaust það er að berjast fyrir frægð og auðæfi þegar að þú deyrð snemmum dauða í leit þess að lokum.
Leiðtogar gera sjálfselsklega hluti sem bitna á þusundum manna undir þeim og dæmir þá í ónauðsynlegann dauðadag. Menn eru sentir í stríð ótengt þeim, myrtir á hörmulega vegu í þágu manna leiddir af eigin hagsmunum og stolti. Áhersla á harmleik stríðs er lögð með skörpum mótsanda við einfalda, fallega, saklausa líf mannana, hversu efnilegu og góðu lífi þeir lifðu, en eru nú ónauðsynlega myrtir á hörmulegann hátt; skildir eftir í moldinni, rotnandi og étnir af krákum, sem hefur afrekað lítið fyrir hagsmuni þeirra.
Homer leggur áherslu á hversu viðkvæmt og stutt líf mannfólks er með ódauðlegu og kraftmiklu guðunum sem að hugsa að sjálfsögðu lítið út í dauða né sársauka. Guðirnir halda með, hjálpa og rífast oft um sitthvora hliðina í stríðinu en að lokum hlæja aðeins um það að þeir hafa tekið dauðlegum mönnum og viðkvæmi þeirra alvarlega.
Þrátt fyrir allt þetta er söguþráðurinn skemmtilegur og spennandi með grípandi karakterum og einstaklega fallegum skriftarhætti. Þar sem þetta var upprunalega ljóð sem var aldrei skrifað heldur bara sungið eru allskonar reglur sem var fylgt til að leggja áherslu á mismunandi hluti sem gerir söguna eins spennandi og hægt var fyrir keisarana og fólkið á þeim tíma, sem helst uppi enn mörg hundruð árum síðar og mun einnig mörg hundruð ár í viðbót.
August 27, 2026
❝ Canta, ó deusa, a ira de Aquiles, o Pelida, que aos aqueus inumeráveis dores trouxe... ❞
Me sinto órfã desse livro, agora que terminei. São personagens tão, mas tão humanos, que chega a dar uma raiva, mas uma empatia, e uma preguiça, e um apego...
Muito orgulho, muita ira, muita raiva, perda, dor, saudade, vingança, tristeza... E ambição, desejo, glória.
Eu sinto como se tivesse estado dentro do livro o tempo inteiro, dentro da guerra. Como se tivesse lutado junto, perdido junto, estado lá. Eu vi todos os defeitos daqueles personagens, senti raiva deles, mas eu estava lá, eles eram meus companheiros de guerra, eu desenvolvi um sentimento familiar com aqueles nomes, aqueles lugares, aquela história.
Absolutamente um dos melhores livros que eu já li, nem queria terminar de tão familiar que estar dentro daquela narrativa era para mim.
Me sinto órfã desse livro, agora que terminei. São personagens tão, mas tão humanos, que chega a dar uma raiva, mas uma empatia, e uma preguiça, e um apego...
Muito orgulho, muita ira, muita raiva, perda, dor, saudade, vingança, tristeza... E ambição, desejo, glória.
Eu sinto como se tivesse estado dentro do livro o tempo inteiro, dentro da guerra. Como se tivesse lutado junto, perdido junto, estado lá. Eu vi todos os defeitos daqueles personagens, senti raiva deles, mas eu estava lá, eles eram meus companheiros de guerra, eu desenvolvi um sentimento familiar com aqueles nomes, aqueles lugares, aquela história.
Absolutamente um dos melhores livros que eu já li, nem queria terminar de tão familiar que estar dentro daquela narrativa era para mim.
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."
June 17, 2026
4.5 stars only because I didn't particularly enjoy the games in Book 23. Even giving this a rating seems stupid. It's like reviewing the Bible. Anyway, best War epic of all time, and I'm excited to move on to the Odyssey just in time for Nolan's Film release.
August 12, 2026
I was concerned that a translation from the late '40s by someone born in the 1880s would be rather dry, but not a bit of it, it's actually rather lively. The gods and 'heroes' are certainly a rum lot and this is a clear reminder from antiquity that war is a dirty business and good for nothing!
August 30, 2026
LOTS of Characters, each with an extended background introduction. Which I suppose is like life that everyone has a backstory, it just made a well narrated story feel like a lecture rather than a journey. Even when repeat Characters were woven in their intros were often repeated.
June 21, 2026
Paris is such a loser.
I love the story but there are too many war scenes
I love the story but there are too many war scenes
July 9, 2026
Lots of fun but LONG. Hot men fighting and crying and a bit more fighting
April 27, 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
August 8, 2025
“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.
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