The Iliad by Cross, Gillian (September 22, 2015) Hardcover

by Gillian Cross

A strikingly illustrated retelling of Homer’s classic from the team who brought us The Odyssey—Carnegie Medalist Gillian Cross and illustrator Neil Packer.

After nine years of war between the Greeks and Trojans, tensions are heating up among men of the same faction as well as those on opposing sides. Two proud and powerful Greeks, King Agamemnon and legendary warrior Achilles, quarrel over a beautiful maiden, causing Achilles and his myrmidons to drop out of the fight. Meanwhile, fueled by rage and pride, honor and greed, soldiers on both sides—Odysseus and Patroclus for the Greeks, Paris and Hector for the Trojans—perform heroic deeds, attempting to end the war. Depicting their actions, and those of the gods they invoke, are vivid, stylistic illustrations reminiscent of Greek pottery, giving this large-format volume an extra measure of authenticity and appeal.

Genres: Classics, Mythology, Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Childrens, War

Unknown Binding

First published September 22, 2015

About the author

Gillian Cross was born Gillian Arnold in 1945. She was educated at North London Collegiate School, Somerville College, Oxford and the University of Sussex. Although now a full-time writer who often travels and gives talks in connection with her work, she has had a number of informal jobs including being an assistant to a Member of Parliament. For eight years she also sat on the committee which advises ministers about public libraries.

She is married to Martin Cross and they have four grown-up children, two sons and two daughters.

Reviews

[Jason Furman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my nine-year old son and we both loved it. Beautiful writing, great illustrations, it smooths over a few of the roughest edges of the The Iliad but keeps most of the brutality and story.

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

So first and foremost, although at Open Library Gillian Cross' 2015 retelling of Homer's Ἰλιάς (with accompanying artwork by Neil Packer) is shelved as being a graphic novel, I for one do kind of beg to differ regarding this, since The Iliad features a very detailed text with ample but definitely not with graphic novel, not with cartoon like illustrations, showing pictures that visually reflect but are not on the same level as the narrative (and that I therefore consider what Cross and Packer present textually and visually in The Iliad to be an illustrated chapter book and thus not a typical or even an atypical graphic novel).

And with regard to the textual quality of The Iliad, yes, the story of the Trojan War is generally presented, is retold by Gillian Cross in vivid and straight-forward prose that is suitable for a middle-school audience (for readers from about the age of nine or so onwards) and with Cross following Homer's storyline for Ἰλιάς pretty closely with regard to thematics/contents, incorporating dialogue, short paragraphs, and pithy description to keep the pace of The Iliad decently lively and for the most part also sufficiently engaging. But I must admit that in particular my older adult reading self (who has repeatedly perused both Ἰλιάς and Ὀδύσσεια unabridged in English translation) also feels that Gillian Cross sometimes fails to textually truly capture the spirit of Homer and that her characters for The Iliad are often a bit cardboard like and emotionless, not enough of an issue for me to not enjoy and appreciate The Iliad as a basic, as a generally nicely successful retelling, but that my reading reaction has still been a bit blah and as such only worth three stars. Therefore, not bad at all to be sure is The Iliad but also and definitely not yet spectacular by any stretch of my imagination (but still recommended with a few minor reservations, and that I also do enjoy how at the back of The Iliad Cross provides information on Homer as well as including the Greek alphabet with its different from Latin script letters).

However and finally, since The Iliad is both textual and visual (and that there are very many illustrations), sorry, but my three star rating for Gillian Cross' retelling has to be lowered to but two stars since I really cannot at all aesthetically stand Neil Packer's accompanying artwork. For yes and according to my personal visual tastes, Packer's pictures for The Iliad are pretty horridly awful, with in particular his human figures often looking unrealistically stylised and with white ghost like skin tones that also do not look Mediterranean, that do not look very Greek, and which I for one find both uncomfortable and also rather intolerant of Greece and of its people (so that indeed, I cannot with good conscience rate The Iliad with three stars since Neil Packer's illustrations just do nothing for me aesthetically and are often majorly visually unappealing).

[Karen Ireland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful old tale and was retold perfectly for a young reader it was accompanied by beautiful Illustrations which will keep a younger reader engaged and not lost interest in the story

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite kids version!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this slowly with the kids for school. We had a blast. What a great introduction to this story. One kid said he wanted to be an archaeologist so he can dig and learn more about Troy and this war.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never liked the Iliad, though this translation/presentation for young readers was decent (and mercifully shorter than most other translations). The artwork was interesting but the Iliad just isn't that good. Everyone really just runs around in front of Troy the whole time. The gods can't decide who they want to win. Paris is a little baby, Achilles is a diva, the whole thing's a mess, and I was glad to be done with it.

My nine year-old liked it but we're both happier to be on to the Odyssey.

[Isie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic for kids. It was helpful to reread this as I’m preparing to teach it to my 3rd grade classroom. The intervention of the gods stood out as central to the flow of the story. The gods are ruled by biases, personal gain, and power. Thankful that I get to teach my kiddos about a truly sovereign God who rules by meaningful action for our good and His glory.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely fantastic translation of Homer’s poem. I’ve never read the original - I may never read the original - but this book achieves the ultimate goal of a translation: beautiful, easily accessible writing which effortlessly captures the true essence of the story. Reading this book, you get a real sense of being drawn into the feelings and struggles of all the characters. That, combined with the phenomenal illustrations, make a masterpiece!

Now here are my thoughts on the actual story (which I absolutely loved!):


- I’m officially on the side of the Trojans. Honestly, what army starts a ten-year-war because some woman has left her husband for somebody else? Some of those Ancient Greeks needed their heads testing. This was not helped by the fact that I liked lots of the Trojan characters yet found most of the Greek characters very annoying. Hector was probably my favourite from Troy. He was brave; he was honourable; he even, at times, was very kind. Helen even admitted that he was one of the only people who was nice to her when she moved to Troy. No wonder a whole city was devastated when he died.
Achilles was a whiny toddler. I get that he’s a tragic figure: he is too devoted to those who love him and too vengeful to those who slight him...but who stays in their tent for days during a war just because someone’s gone off with their mistress? Maybe the heat of war got to his head...
Patroclus was a very tragic figure: ultimately a very nice genuine guy, who (like Achilles) had the war go to his head.

- Agamemnon is a selfish, arrogant twerp who did nothing more than annoy people and escalate everything to violence. No wonder his wife murdered him when he returned home (karma!).

- I’ve known the story for years, and I still find it baffling how the Trojan Horse actually worked.

- Those gods are a nightmare, aren’t they? Whenever they’re not interfering with the battle (in order to keep to the predestined order of things...for some reason?), they’re too busy bickering among themselves. Hera, in particular, sounds like a nightmare psycho wife. Good on Zeus for holding his own...when he’s not being lulled to sleep!

- Honestly, Paris abstaining from battle just to spend all day having sex with Helen. (Reviewers with children, do not worry, that is NOT in this retelling!)


Ultimately, this is a gruesome but highly addictive and memorable story about the chaos of war, inevitability of death, what it truly means to be a hero, and all the idiosyncrasies of humanity. Can’t wait to move onto Gillian Cross’s adaptation of The Odyssey!

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for my library because so many of the kids are into Percy Jackson, and I finally got around to reading it this month. I have only read The Iliad (and only excerpts!) once before--in college--but the main points of the story came back as I read this version. It seems to me that this version was very close to the original story, even though it definitely paraphrased and summarized, as well as adding some material at the beginning and end to put the text of the Iliad in the context of the larger legend of the Trojan War.

I liked that it included major events from The Iliad that could easily veer into "mature" content, but retold in a way that was appropriate for kids (stealing women, dragging someone's body behind chariots, basically anything the Greek gods do) and I think the illustrations were both beautiful and contributed to the retelling. I also liked that many of the illustrations incorporated the Greek names for characters. Finally, I liked that there is information given about modern archaeology surrounding the city of Troy.

My one disappointment is that the illustrator included a couple characters who were portrayed as Black, but the only character who is immediately identifiable as being Black is a completely negative character (Dolan). Could we have had a great variety of characters be characters of color if you were attempting to display diversity? Is there more to this choice in illustration that I'm not aware of?

[TheMadHatter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been wanting to tackle the Iliad and the Odyssey this year and while I have a beautiful illustrated edition of the Odyssey, I haven't been able to find a "pretty" version of the Iliad. While searching what my library had, I found they had this illustrated retelling and given that I have heard the Iliad is a difficult read, I thought I would give this a go first - a sort of primer (and to also prepare me for Song of Achilles and Circe which are also on my TBR).

This was a beautiful children's/middle school version of events. Highly simplified. Very rushed and superficial in places - but it gives a good overall vibe at only 150 pages and the illustrations were unique, very bold and utterly gorgeous.

At the end of the day, I am not a fan of the story of Troy (something about the death of Hector just doesn't work for me). Starting to think I will just jump to the Odyssey which I know I already love :-).

[Dougie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This retelling of the classic tale is pitched somewhat towards younger readers, though not to its detriment. Having read Song of Achilles, I’ve been wanting to read a good version of Homer’s actual tale and this filled that gap admirably.

The story is told succinctly, perhaps a little too brief in some places where it feels a little rushed, but the book as a whole is great. The telling of the story and the wonderful illustrations are perfectly matched, highly recommended as a good primer for the classic story.

[L.E. Fidler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final night discussion: why Mommy cries for Hector, Athena’s loyalty to the Greeks, the purpose of an epilogue, reading with inflection, desecration of and proper funereal rites for fallen Ancient Greek heroes, urn sharing, the Trojan Horse

Liam’s rating: “I give it 5 out of 4 stars because it was really and had a lot of action parts but it had sad parts, too, and it made me sad at the end.”

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The river god heard him and was outraged. His waters were already polluted with Trojan blood, and now he was insulted. He spoke directly to Achilles in a great dark voice that came welling up from the deepest pool.
"Go and do your foul work somewhere else! There are enough dead Trojans here! I'm choked with corpses!"'

[Nicole Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read-aloud. I love these retellings and the artwork.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This format STILL felt a little tedious to me in the battle segments! The illustrations weren't my style, but they were interesting.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous writing with weird and fascinating illustrations. Our whole family loved this version of The Iliad.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I missed Cross and Packer's first Classical collaborative effort on The Odyssey, but that just means I got to be delightfully surprised by how good their version of The Iliad was. Packer's illustrations are ravishing, and I adored how he cleverly mimicked the style of painting common to Greek vases and used every opportunity to work either characters from the Greek alphabet or Greek versions of the story's characters names into his pictures as design elements. Paired with Cross's simple, lucid translation, they make for a near-perfect introduction to Homer's tale for young readers.

If I have any quibbles at all, it's that so much of The Iliad's cadence was predicated on it being an oral epic, the length and meter of which meant Homer would add an epithet to each character's name (fleet-footed Achilles, man-killing Hector) either to help the listener remember who amongst the near-infinite cast of characters he was talking about or to ensure he filled out the syllabic line correctly. Cross's translation avoids any hint of such rhythms, which makes for a more straight-forward reading experience but leaves those of us who've read other translations feel that there's just a little something lacking here.

While it's no Fagles, this edition of Homer's tale is both gorgeous and engrossing, and a great entree to Classics for children or young adults. (Also fun for regular adults who just like Homer.)

[JMM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cross tells the complex story of the Iliad with spare and perfect phrasing, and her approach is complemented in this beautiful volume for young readers by the choice of font and paper (with pages in varying colors), and striking design elements. Neil Packer’s illustrations, odd and fascinating, stylized and evocative, are a perfect contrast. (Publication date is September 22, 2015)

[Maged Zeineldin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a classic book that I read with my 10 years old son. It is simply the Iliad. The book use a relatively advanced vocabulary for my son's age group however it was actually good to teach my son new words. My only warning to parents is that the Iliad describes a war with realtively a lot of violence.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great retelling, fun pictures!

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an excellent retelling of Homer's epic poem. Cross does not just choose to recap main events but covers the relationships and the reasoning behind many of the actions that the characters take. In previous versions, writers have shied away from other members of the story, generally focusing on key players and their actions but in this version, the author weaves a carefully thought-out story, choosing to keep in the minor players and sharing the sadness and conflict that they felt and saw throughout the war. I also thought that the gods were written well too.

The highlight though is Neil Packer's illustrations. He claims that Cross' writing made the job of illustrating the book easy (it's a lovely, chunky size) but I'd argue that his whole-page illustrations do more than enough to hold their own with their bold colouring and characters whose poses and positioning are echoes of the same characters to be found on Ancient Greek pottery. I would hope that these stories, some of our oldest and best, are shared with children.

[Don Putnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter (age 12) has really enjoyed reading all the Percy Jackson books along with learning about Greek and Roman mythology. Doing a little brainstorming for a good Christmas present, I found The Iliad and The Odyssey for kids. This book was wonderful! We read a few chapters together every day and enjoyed looking at the art work. What a wonderful way to introduce the epics to kids!

Obviously it retells the story for kids, but it still remains true to the story - including the violence. Having been over 20 years since I read The Iliad, as an adult, I enjoyed the refresher to the story too!

The art work is really cool! I realize art is a preference, so some people may not like the art work. Personally, I thought it was really great! It looks like something out of the Byzantine era. My daughter got a good laugh out of some of the art.

Tonight, we'll start The Odyssey!

[Stacy Wittenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm delighted to give this 5 enthusiastic stars. This version was accessible to my kids (ages 5 & 8) without being patronizing or dumbed down like other classic adaptations can be. We looked forward to reading this aloud each night and they'd beg for extra chapters; after we finished they immediately begged to start The Odyssey. For myself, I've read a lot of the recent contemporary myth adaptations (Circe, Song of Achilles, Remember the Girls), but I don't think I've ever read The Iliad (maybe in high school?)... so reading this version was great for background knowledge. Highly recommend!

[Phil Cotnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is not worth a whole lot since I have not yet read the original. Therefore it is hard to say how good of an adaptation it is. What I can say is that it was enjoyable to read. The style of the illustrations is not my favorite, but they are well done and do add to the experience. Perhaps the best and most helpful thing I can say is that my ten year old son loved it and could hardly put it down. By that testimony alone I deem it to be an accessible introduction to this towering epic of Western civilization.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one with the kiddos. The illustrations are incredible. Cross did a great job adapting the story for young readers; it's age-appropriate without being either childish or losing too much. My boys are now happily devouring Greek mythology and want to read the Odyssey, so mission accomplished.

[Kate Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written and illustrated like it's an adaptation aimed at children, especially by the size of the words on the page and some of the word choices, except it doesn't gloss over any of the violence of the subject matter, so it is decidedly not child friendly. However it was very good adaptation.

[Colin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this to spare myself having to read through the original version and hopefully be surprised and entertained. Sadly, my hopes are dashed. This story is boring. And no wonder; the whole conflict started because some jerk stole another guy's wife. It's worse enough to see similar drama reported in the news.

[Stefalopod Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good version of the foundational literary text. These two books by across are written so that they’re coherent to kids but still big enough, with enough information to get the full story across. Reid enjoyed thoroughly but man, there sure is a lot of killing for a 7 year old.

[stephanie ⋆˙⟡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my novel, I had the book by Gillian Cross that had both the Illiad and Odyssey. I learnt a lot about the Trojan War and historical figures such as Achilles and Hector. A very good and educational novel for young children to read.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids loved this retelling, as well as The Odyssey by the same author, and I felt like it was age appropriate for them. My only complaint for this book was that the last chapter that included several key events was very rushed.