The Iliad by Homer

The Iliad has long been hailed as one of the classics of Western literature. For years the thought of slogging through some epic poem from 700 B.C. was akin to root canal. However, I had committed to 2007 being a kind of return to basics and everything begins with Homer.

What an incredible discovery. The reputation of the Iliad among students and far too many casual readers as some boring-as-dirt, mind-numbing babel is completing and wholly undeserved. This is an incredible story of war, passion, glory and vengeance. Complete with characters who remain with us to this day from Achilles to Odysseus to Helen of Troy. So much of our lexicon has it roots in Homer. Whenever we speak on an Achilles heel, the Trojan Horse, or the "face that launched a thousand ships"-that would be Helen, we are indebted to Homer.

I decided on the translation by Robert Fagles after reading the review of his translation of Virgil's "Aeneid" in the New York Times and after comparing his edition to some other standard translations such Robert Fitzgerald.

The Iliad (literally the poem about Ilium - the city that we now call Troy) takes place over a period of weeks in the tenth-and final-year of the Trojan War. It focuses on the rage of Achilles - the greatest of the Greek heroes at Troy.

When Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek forces at Troy, dishonors Achilles by taking Briseis, a slave woman given to Achilles as a prize of war, Achilles becomes enraged and withdraws from the fighting. Without him and his powerful Myrmidon warriors, the Greeks suffer defeat by the Trojans, almost to the point of losing their will to fight. Achilles re-enters the fighting when his dearest friend, Patroclus, is killed by the Trojan prince Hector. Achilles slaughters many Trojans and kills Hector. In his rage, he then refuses to return Hector's body and instead defiles it. Priam, the father of Hector, ransoms his son's body, and the Iliad ends with the funeral of Hector. (synopsis from Wikipedia)

Perhaps it was the poor or outdated translations that has caused countless readers such dread, but this is an incredible translation resulting in a powerful reading experience. The ebb and flow sweep you headlong into the very midst of battle. You can hear the ringing clash of arms, feel the ferociousness of combat, and witness both the glory and hideous suffering of war.

Any reader who grew up reading action-adventure stories, readers of science-fiction and fantasy, any lover of action movies, should love the Iliad. There are larger-than-life characters, gods, and heroes. There are incredible battles fought over pages and chapters that suck you into the action. At many times, you have to remember to breath and relax you muscles (the battle for the body of Petroclus is an especially brutal and captivating scene). Jane Austin this is not. The Iliad is not for the faint of heart. While the poem celebrates the heroic values associated with combat, Homer nonetheless offers a brutal portrayal of war:

"Achilles storming on with brandished spear
like a frenzied god of battle trampling all he killed
and the earth ran black with blood."

"So as the great Achilles rampaged on, his sharp-hoofed stallions
trampled shields and corpses, axle under his chariot splashed
with blood, blood on the handrails sweeping around the car
sprays of blood shooting up from the stallions hoofs
and churning, whirling rims--and the son of Peleus
charioteering on to seize his glory, bloody filth
splattering both strong arms, Achilles's invincible arms--"
(Page 519)

While the focus of the Iliad, Achilles actually sits out most of the book, and only returns to the battle some 425 pages into the story (page 502 in my edition). Despite being reminded of the prophecy that he is doomed to die at Troy, Achilles plunges back into the war seeking vengeance:

"Why prophesy my doom?
Don't waste your breath. I know, well I know-
I am destined to die here, far from my dear father,
far from my mother. But all the same I will never stop
till I drive the Trojans to their bloody fill of war!"

This is not the pouting, wimpy Achilles in the movie "Troy" - how they could make such an action-packed book on war into such a snooze fest is simply beyond my comprehension.

The story ends with the burial of Hector, so the death of Achilles (that is fated to come soon after the death of Hector) and fall of Troy are left to other stories. The Trojan Horse and the sacking of Troy are mentioned in the Odyssey but both are given fuller accounts in Virgil's Aeneid.

A brilliant epic and a translation that truly brings the story to life for a modern audience. Some notes of caution however. Remember the Iliad was written 2,700 years ago in a foreign and difficult language; and that was designed to read aloud as a performance. So not everything translates easily for the modern reader. But as long as you don't get too caught up in the names and the sometimes long family genealogy, you should be fine. for example, The famous "Catalog of Ships " in Book Two may be on infinite interest to some, but it was a diversion for me (and could be skimmed with detracting from the main story).

Also I normally do not read Introductions until later, but you would do well to take the time to read the thorough but fascinating introduction by Bernard Knox.

The themes, storylines, and characters resonate throughout time right down to our modern internet age - in computing, a piece of software which appears to perform a certain action but in fact performs another (such as virus) is called a 'trojan' in reference to the story of the Trojan Horse. What they say is true, to really understand Western literature and art-and even as some speculate to understand our modern age-you must begin with Homer.

Buy the book from Amazon.