What do you think?
Rate this book
Selections from Homer's Iliad
First published in 1903, Selections from Homer’s Iliad has become a classic Greek textbook. Allen Rogers Benner presents selections from twelve books of the Iliad both in Greek and English. Short summaries between books bridge the narrative and aid the student in gaining a comprehensive view of the Iliad as a work of literature and art. Invaluable resources include an extensive section of notes on the text, a short Homeric grammar, and a vocabulary and Greek index.
In a new foreword, Mark W. Edwards argues for the utility of Benner’s text while offering a useful summary of current scholarship on the historical sources of the epic, Greek oral tradition, and Homeric style and diction. Benner’s Iliad will join Barbour’s Herodotus and Garrison’s Catullus as indispensable volumes in classical culture and literature available from the University of Oklahoma Press.
In a new foreword, Mark W. Edwards argues for the utility of Benner’s text while offering a useful summary of current scholarship on the historical sources of the epic, Greek oral tradition, and Homeric style and diction. Benner’s Iliad will join Barbour’s Herodotus and Garrison’s Catullus as indispensable volumes in classical culture and literature available from the University of Oklahoma Press.
522 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1903
4 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Allen Rogers Benner
5 booksAllen Rogers Benner (1870 - 1940) was Professor of Greek at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He coauthored Beginner's Greek Book and translated The Letters of Alciphron, Aelian, and Philostratus.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 19, 2022
Read books 1-3 in Greek again after a half-century. High point was surely the scene in book 3 where King Priam and Helen are observing the Greek forces from the walls of Troy and Helen identifies the Greek commanders, including her former husband Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon. Antenor interrupts and tells how he once entertained Odysseus. Then Helen notices that Castor and Pollux are absent from amongst Greek leaders:
δοιὼ δ᾽ οὐ δύναμαι ἰδέειν κοσμήτορε λαῶν
Κάστορά θ᾽ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα
αὐτοκασιγνήτω, τώ μοι μία γείνατο μήτηρ.
ἢ οὐχ ἑσπέσθην Λακεδαίμονος ἐξ ἐρατεινῆς,
ἢ δεύρω μὲν ἕποντο νέεσσ᾽ ἔνι ποντοπόροισι,
νῦν αὖτ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλουσι μάχην καταδύμεναι ἀνδρῶν
αἴσχεα δειδιότες καὶ ὀνείδεα πόλλ᾽ ἅ μοί ἐστιν.
[I cannot see two of the marshals, my brothers Castor the charioteer and Pollux the good boxer, to whom my own mother also gave birth. Either they didn't come from lovely Lacedaemon, or they sailed here with the seagoing ships, but now don't wish to enter the battle of the men, ashamed to hear the nasty things they say about me.]
Then the poet continues:
ὣς φάτο, τοὺς δ᾽ ἤδη κάτεχεν φυσίζοος αἶα
ἐν Λακεδαίμονι αὖθι φίλῃ ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ.
[So she said, but already the life-giving earth held them there in the dear fatherland Lacedaemon.]
Now I've left the Iliad and jumped to the Odyssey when Odysseus arrives in Phaeacia and encounters Nausicaa the daughter of King Alcinous.
δοιὼ δ᾽ οὐ δύναμαι ἰδέειν κοσμήτορε λαῶν
Κάστορά θ᾽ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα
αὐτοκασιγνήτω, τώ μοι μία γείνατο μήτηρ.
ἢ οὐχ ἑσπέσθην Λακεδαίμονος ἐξ ἐρατεινῆς,
ἢ δεύρω μὲν ἕποντο νέεσσ᾽ ἔνι ποντοπόροισι,
νῦν αὖτ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλουσι μάχην καταδύμεναι ἀνδρῶν
αἴσχεα δειδιότες καὶ ὀνείδεα πόλλ᾽ ἅ μοί ἐστιν.
[I cannot see two of the marshals, my brothers Castor the charioteer and Pollux the good boxer, to whom my own mother also gave birth. Either they didn't come from lovely Lacedaemon, or they sailed here with the seagoing ships, but now don't wish to enter the battle of the men, ashamed to hear the nasty things they say about me.]
Then the poet continues:
ὣς φάτο, τοὺς δ᾽ ἤδη κάτεχεν φυσίζοος αἶα
ἐν Λακεδαίμονι αὖθι φίλῃ ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ.
[So she said, but already the life-giving earth held them there in the dear fatherland Lacedaemon.]
Now I've left the Iliad and jumped to the Odyssey when Odysseus arrives in Phaeacia and encounters Nausicaa the daughter of King Alcinous.
June 16, 2019
An admirable text for the intermediate student of Greek who is approaching Homer for the first time, this volume (which has been around since 1903), offers a selection of passages from the Iliad. Five full books are presented (I, III, IX, XVIII, XXII), as well as episodes from seven others (II, V, VI, XV, XVI, XIX, XXIV), which leaves twelve books wholly unexplored. This title also includes a significant section of explanatory notes (pg. 213-345), a short Homeric Grammar, and a Vocabulary & Greek Index.
This is not a book intended for someone making a complete study of the Iliad in the ancient Greek (something I have never done, alas!), but serves to introduce a solid portion of Homer's work. It was the text in one of my college courses, so I also had the benefit of solid in-person instruction while using it. On a related note: I tend not to use the grammar and glossary/vocabulary features of books such as these, because I find it so annoying to be constantly flipping back and forth. I use either my Liddell & Scott Lexicon or the Perseus Project website as resources instead - they give you definitions, grammatical form, and other helpful information while the text is open in front of you. Just a study tip from one student to another...
This is not a book intended for someone making a complete study of the Iliad in the ancient Greek (something I have never done, alas!), but serves to introduce a solid portion of Homer's work. It was the text in one of my college courses, so I also had the benefit of solid in-person instruction while using it. On a related note: I tend not to use the grammar and glossary/vocabulary features of books such as these, because I find it so annoying to be constantly flipping back and forth. I use either my Liddell & Scott Lexicon or the Perseus Project website as resources instead - they give you definitions, grammatical form, and other helpful information while the text is open in front of you. Just a study tip from one student to another...
April 25, 2015
The selections in this book are excellent along with the wonderful Homeric grammar and vocabulary. However, I feel as if the notes were a bit lacking and could perhaps be a bit modernized (this edition is from 1903). Also, the binding of the paperback for this book is atrocious - it broke about a week in, and pages started coming out. It was pretty terrible.
December 26, 2017
This book is ideal if you are approaching the Iliad in Greek for the first time. I used it as an undergraduate forty years ago and, well, Homer's language hasn't changed a whole lot since then.
Benner's notes are lucid, and the full vocabulary at the end of the book helpfully targets specific definitions for words in certain contexts. This volume also contains a comprehensive grammatical appendix that covers in detail all of the forms that are uniquely Homeric.
The very readable size and style of the Greek font make this text especially attractive as a textbook. Hapax legomena (words that occur only once in the entire poem) are omitted from the full vocabulary and defined instead at the bottom of those pages where they appear.
It contains books 1, 3, 9, 18, and 22 (complete) and selections from 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19 and 24. That's a fairly rich selection of the Iliad to read in Greek.
Benner's notes are lucid, and the full vocabulary at the end of the book helpfully targets specific definitions for words in certain contexts. This volume also contains a comprehensive grammatical appendix that covers in detail all of the forms that are uniquely Homeric.
The very readable size and style of the Greek font make this text especially attractive as a textbook. Hapax legomena (words that occur only once in the entire poem) are omitted from the full vocabulary and defined instead at the bottom of those pages where they appear.
It contains books 1, 3, 9, 18, and 22 (complete) and selections from 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19 and 24. That's a fairly rich selection of the Iliad to read in Greek.
Read
September 8, 2020Read Book 1. The Homeric Greek prose is beautiful and the lexicon at the back was helpful for translation. I also enjoyed the supplements on Greek and Trojan culture.
August 11, 2023
archaic genitives
May 21, 2007
It's definitely a treat to read Homer in the original Greek, so pretty! This edition by Benner is really helpful for students who are just starting to read Greek texts. It is not the full Iliad. There are some complete books, and highlights from others. It also includes a Homeric dictionary in the back (probably the only one you will need to read this) and a very helpful commentary.
July 27, 2012
really liked this edition. good choices for the excerpts and all the extras let me take my homework all over town with me without need of extra grammars or dictionaries. particularly liked that the intro had a good bit of info and illustrations about what's known in re: material history to compare with homer's warfare (though probably it's kind of out of date by now - i wouldn't really know).
May 25, 2011
If you want to read key passages from Homer in the original language, this is a great way to start. Apart from the texts, there are notes, a vocabulary list, and lots of other background stuff. Very nice. (:
April 26, 2013
If you're reading the Iliad for the first time, this is a good schoolbook for you! This time through, I'm using the Cunliffe "A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect" -- VERY useful!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews