The Iliad / The Odyssey by Homer
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Book Reviews of The Iliad / The Odyssey
Book Review: Wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
This boxed set was almost a steal it was such a price and quality! The works flowed with what can only be assumed near the original prose and was explained in great detail. Please do buy this item!Book Review: Story of the West
Summary: 5 Stars
What more can be said?
This is the only translation I have ever read--it was lucid and beautiful, and there is nothing better to say so I will leave it at that.
Book Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
Brand new as seller listed; still in plastic package.
fast delivery
great price!
saved probably $15 buying on here than buying at borders or barnes and noble.
Book Review: Highly readable translation
Summary: 5 Stars
Highly readable translation that conveys the poetic beauty of the Illiad and the Odyssey. The typography and physical construction of these volumes is also excellent.Book Review: Fascinating - 4.5 stars
Summary: 4 Stars
The Iliad was not quite what I expected. It doesn't have the lyricism and imagery of other epic poems such as Paraside Lost or the Inferno. Its metaphors are sometimes crude and very wordy. It is also an extremely violent book -- large sections of the text are devoted to describing the deaths of warriors in graphic detail. It is also sometimes repititious, which is partly a result of having evolved from an oral tradition in which repitition allowed the poet more time to improvise the next segment of poetry.However, it is still a powerful poem. The story is not what you might expect. There is no Trojan horse, no golden apples. It starts in the ninth year of the siege of Troy as Achilles, enraged by the actions of Agammemnon, breaks from the Argives and sulks in his tent. This sets in motion a chain of events that will result in a clash between himself and the great Trojan hero Hector. All of this unfolds next to a second tale - the fighting amongst the Olympian gods as they determine the destiny of Troy and the heroes from both armies fighting for it.
The Iliad unfolds novelistically. We start with the rage of Achilles in the plains of Troy. Gradually, slowly, the background is revealed - the reason for the Argive invasion of Troy, the reason for the rage of Achilles. It is only very late in the book that the reasons for Hera's hatred of Troy and the tight bond between Patroclus and Achilles is explained.
Although there are many characters in the book, Achilles is the most powerful. Passionate, temperamental, arrogant, brutal and courageous. In many ways, he comes across as the villian. He is opposed by Hector -- also arrogant and brutal, but a family man. Hector is both admired and loved by the Trojans. Achilles is admired by the Greeks, but not loved. The characters of Patroclus, Odysseus and Agamemnon are also well-defined.
The Odyssey is a completely different sort of work. Whereas the Iliad is grand in scope and tells many overlapping stories, the Odyssey is tightly focused on the story of Odysseus's return to his beloved Ithaca. The Iliad is about war and glory, the Odyssey about home and family. One is clearly the work on an older Homer, assuming they come from the same author at all. The Odyssey is more descriptive, less crude in its imagery and the narrative line is cleaner, mostly because of the narrowed subject matter. One wonder if Homer intended it as part of a series of poems about the Greeks returning from troy.
The Odyssey was again not what I expected. It start with Odysseus's son, Telemachus, watching Penelope's suitors devour the fruits of his father's kingdom. Telemechus leaves on a voyage to find word of his father. This segues into Odysseus's return from a seven-year stay with Calypso. He is shipwrecked on Phaeacia, where, after being received by the King of Phaeacia, he unfolds the tale of the journey that landed him on Calypso's isle. The last half of the book deals with eventual return to Ithaca and his dealing with Penelope's suitors.
Homer's style is still songlike and lyrical. His description of the journey to the underworld is especially vivid. And Odysseus is expanded into a complex character - cunning, brave, suspicious - and of course the tragic flaw that creates the Odyssey - proud.
Fagles translation is probably the most unique you will run across. It translates the poems into vivid, song-like language that probably best reflects what the poems sounded like when Homer sang them. I find some fault with his occasionaly use of modern idiom (the overuse of phrases like "cut -and-run", etc.). But it is an easier and more enjoyable read than the more classic translations that favor more stilted prose.
Also, read the introductions. Although they are long, they are fascinating, especially in the discussion over the debate on the origins of the Iliad and the Odyssey. It will also help you appreciate some of the phrases used repeatedly in the poems ("swift-footed Achilles", "long-haired Argives", etc.").