The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) | 
 enlarge | Author: Homer
Creators: Bernard Knox, Robert Fagles
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
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Rating:  141 reviews
Sales Rank: 1871
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 704
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.9
ISBN: 0140275363
Dewey Decimal Number: 883.01
EAN: 9780140275360
ASIN: 0140275363
Publication Date: November 1, 1998
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Amazon.com Review
This groundbreaking English version by Robert Fagles is the most important recent translation of Homer's great epic poem. The verse translation has been hailed by scholars as the new standard, providing an Iliad that delights modern sensibility and aesthetic without sacrificing the grandeur and particular genius of Homer's own style and language. The Iliad is one of the two great epics of Homer, and is typically described as one of the greatest war stories of all time, but to say the Iliad is a war story does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action and characters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth and history in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy.
Product Description
This timeless poem-more than 2,700 year old-still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amid devastation and destruction as it moves inexorably to its wrenching, tragic conclusion. Readers of this epic poem will be gripped by the finely tuned translation and enlightening introduction.
Translated by Robert Fagles
Introduction and Notes by Bernard
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| Customer Reviews: Read 136 more reviews...
 Epic Masterpiece! January 5, 2009
Though I have read and I teach The Odyssey, it was good to read The Iliad in order to get more background about the Trojan War. This book is definitely not for the faint-of-heart and Homer's war details are very graphic and grotesque.
However, the theme of honor is timeless and I really got caught up in Akhilleus' anger and revenge. There was also the theme of Akhilleus' battle between acting like an immortal when he was only a demi-god vs. Menelaos' humanity. Also, good lessons in "hubris." This is indeed a classic, and a "must-read" for all (even though I am hoping I only have to endure it once!).
Homer's Iliad: Sophisticated or Primitive? December 28, 2008
Scholars and commentators tend to describe this marvelous and fantastical epic as loose, primitive and unrefined. Their reasons range from a sense of Homer lacking purpose, to a worldview where gods and humans are more or less the same, to the nonjudgmental way in which Homer depicts violence, and to the more colloquial, "huddled around the bonfire" style of Homer's art. All of these comments have merit, but as a exploration of the human condition, it's hard to beat this poem.
Everything's here: chest-pounding conquest, trembling cowardice, the angst of contrition, the sting of revenge, the importance of human relations, and all of Greek civilization on a rampage in search of beloved Helen, gold and pride. It's a masterpiece of raw and unapologetic scope, yet the detailing is subtle and the message sublime: when Athena whispers in a character's ear, we sense she's a psychological projection and, we fear, nothing more.
I think that's what made Robert Fagles's raw, inspired and effective translation so satisfying for me, because the text shattered many of the myths--our myths--about who these ancients were, what they wanted and how they placed themselves in the greater cosmos. In the heat of battle, a bird sign might be as much scoffed at and ignored as obeyed; the motives of its interpreter might be questioned; men fighting for honor and kingdom might sooner flee than face a superior opponent unless a comrade rallies his spirit; and everything in this sordid epic is viewed as if under a microscope of pathos, skepticism and shared experience.
I didn't miss Homer's rhyme and meter in this translation because the story itself is so artful; in fact, an attempt to rhyme this fluid story would pose the serious risk of detracting from its immediacy and impact. Later Greeks presented The Iliad as a national epic that valued honor, courage and glory above all things, but in Homer's language I find something far more textured and real. No, the ancient Greeks and Trojans depicted here are not savages in search of bloodlust and treasure; they are us, albeit stripped of facade and breeding, and as poetry, Homer suggests a Shakespearean understanding of character, fate, challenge and predicament.
My Titles
Shadow Fields
Snooker Glen
Dasha
Greek Propaganda? December 2, 2008
I've tried one review of this superb translation but it zapped off into the ether. I'll give it another shot.
This translation is a must read for all those who love Homer's classic tale and for all its magnificent horror is wonderfully readable. Perhaps the thing I most love about this tale is that, despite the fact that it describes events 3,200 years ago, it instructs us that human nature has not changed 5 minutes in all that time. We are still just as proud, jealous, resentful, vengeful, courageous and cowardly as any of Homer's characters. We are the same--no change--and, like the Achaena Greeks and the Trojans, we too will go down to utter oblivion.
It is truly amazing that Homer, and all the poets who necessarily preceeded him, describe a Bronze Age world hundreds of years in their past. It tells us of the accuracy of the oral tradition. Homer's Greeks and Trojans are not people of Homer's times. They are people of an earlier tradition. Their weapons are bronze and iron is a semi-precious metal. This level of reliability should cause us to suspect that Homer was reliable in other areas. Troy, as we now know, did exist and present archaeological findings indicate that Homer's account was very close to accurate. The city was indeed wealthy, large and well-fortified. The chariot trap ditch has even been found.
The characters may have been real characters although their significance may have been somewhat different. It is a story presaging Greek victory told by Greeks and must be viewed in that light. Greek heroes are, perhaps, more heroic than Trojan heroes. Even though Achilles is out of the fighting during much of the story, Ajax the Greater usually manages to fend off even the greatest Trojan, Hector. Here, I suspect, we see the effects of pro-Greek editing. Nevertheless, Hector, perhaps unintentially, is the most sympathetic person in the story. We weep for his family as this bulwark of the Trojan resistance dies under the brutal spear of Achilles.
At the same time, Paris, abductor of Helen, is treated as a coward. A careful reading of the story, however, shows something rather different. Paris actually kills and/or disables more Greek heroes than does Hector. In action following the Iliad he even kills the near-immortal demigod, Achilles. Modern archaeology has found tablets in the Hittite capital that mention Wilosa [Ilium, Troy] and Alexandros [Alexander, Paris]. Is it possible that Alexander/Paris was the most important Trojan and was even a high prince or even king? Might this account for his refusal to give up Helen despite his countrymen's anger? As king he may have simply been calling the shots.
Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
 Faithful Rendition October 13, 2008
The Iliad / 0-14-027536-3
I'm not going to lie and say that I pull this out every other weekend for light reading, but if you're going to have a copy of the Illiad on hand, this is a good one to add to the library. The translation is a good one, and is very poetic yet easy enough to read, considering the source material. The verse form has been maintained and reminds the reader that this was originally a verse, not a prose narrative. And the binding is tight and attractive, with thick sturdy pages. I recommend this version, if you're considering buying The Illiad.
 DON'T buy into the Fagles "hype"! October 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although I respect Fagles as a modern translator, I cannot recommend his translations of Homer...I would probably only recommend his translations of Sophocles's 3 Theban Plays.
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey don't sound like Epics anymore under Fagles...they are turned into mild nice sounding children stories! He tones down Homer to the point that I feel that Fagels wants his personality to shine NOT Homer's! I am gravely disappointed by this.
I also find that he not only forces beauty into the text but adds too much of his personal warmth that gets in the way of the texts and creates a vision of Homer's epics that is truly unsound to the original.
Not only that but the font and design of the print is an eye sore, I don't like the choice the publishers and Fagles gave to the works. It doesn't make for easy reading...
Stanley Lombardo's translations are unparalleled in their print layout, design and font...not to say vivid and powerful evocative translation.
I continue to find Richmond Lattimore's facinating translations the most accurate to how the Ancient Greek language sounds to English ears. I would buy Lattimore over Fagles (and Fitzgerald).
And I still think Rieu's famous Prose version of the Iliad from 1950 is hard to beat for it's modernity and readibility.
...Find out for yourself by comparing a few versions but don't be duped into this mysterious "Fagles hype"!
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