Ancient World discussion

Folks, re-reading the Illiad, the Robert Fagles trans. this time.
Thought I'd start a thread to discuss it and any related texts.
Forgot how gory it was.
So far I've noticed that Odysseus only takes 12 ships and looks like a wee Glasgow "hard man". Very enjoyable so far.
I think we can allow spoilers here, so any comments/theories/rants?

I have started re-reading the Illiad myself. This time I am writing a summary of each book, and creating a blog entry. You are correct, it is bloody and gory—suitable for those cold winter nights around the ancestral hearth, listening to the bards tell of the 'glorious' deeds of ones ancestors (maybe)! I recall when I was younger getting swept away by the excitement of the battles, not not so much.

I have not re-read recently (5 years), but I am almost ready to admit that I prefer the Odyssey to the Illiad ! The story was tough on Odysseus's crew, but it is a more complex tale.

Finished it last week and enjoyed it.
Will happily rant away as you read it.
A few more things on the shelf then The Odyssey for me.
Interested in the soupy/boozy/cheesy/porridge thing that Nestor fills his cup with...may have to try and make it...in the interests of living archeology...

I have finished Book 7. The end of the big battle. Thoughts: really inefficient warfare, they just now build a wall to protect their ships? Meeting on the battle field and exchanging gifts? Seems more of a hobby than a real battle, by modern standards. Of greater note, the omnipresent desire for peace by the participants on both sides. The famous incident of Thersites, to the princely council of King Priam, all want peace, and to go home, but the senior leaders refuse, seeking total victory.

Ian wrote: "Thoughts: really inefficient warfare, they just now build a wall to protect their ships? Meeting on the battle field and exchanging gifts?..."

Aye, the formal warfare (which has existed in many cultures) does however give way eventually to carnage...I thought the metaphors become more work related (less joy of battle more like a task...fishing, threshing etc). And this eventually becomes (after the walls fall, after the Iliad ends) total war, as happens even today...Balkans, Rwanda etc. Nasty protrayals of warcrimes on ancient Greek pottery including Priam being beaten to death with his grandchild.

True. There is a book about the Trojan War I have always wanted to read 'Achilles in Vietnam', written by a vet and psychiatrist, who treats combat stress (forget the correct term). He describes the actions of the Greeks and Trojans within the terms of fighters suffering combat stress, after a decade of constant warfare.

Have The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War about 3rd on my list now, possibly similar themes by the sound of it. Thanks for the pointer will add it to my ever growing pile.

It relates more to the Aeneid, but recently finished Le Guin's historical fiction, Lavinia. She evokes the setting and beliefs without trying to modernize the characters or their beliefs.

I recently re-read the Fagles translation of the Iliad and found it to be quite enjoyable. I also purchased and enjoyed Elizabeth Vandiver's lectures through The Great Courses on the Iliad.

I also went and saw "An Iliad", an abridged live performance of the poem at the Undermain Theater in Dallas.

I am currently reading the Odyssey and have recently finished a couple books on the Trojan war and archeology of Trojan sites.

An endlessly fascinating subject.

I've just posted my review on The Return from Troy

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It's much more than a rehashing of the Odyssey.

What? Priam was beaten to death with his grandchild? I must have missed that years ago when I read it.