The Iliad, Homer
The Iliad, Homer
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The Iliad
A New Translation by Caroline Alexander

Author: Homer, Caroline Alexander

Narrator: Dominic Keating

Unabridged: 19 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 04/19/2016

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

With her virtuoso translation, classicist and bestselling author Caroline Alexander brings to life Homer’s timeless epic of the Trojan WarComposed around 730 B.C., Homer’s Iliad recounts the events of a few momentous weeks in the protracted ten-year war between the invading Achaeans, or Greeks, and the Trojans in their besieged city of Ilion. From the explosive confrontation between Achilles, the greatest warrior at Troy, and Agamemnon, the inept leader of the Greeks, through to its tragic conclusion, The Iliad explores the abiding, blighting facts of war.Soldier and civilian, victor and vanquished, hero and coward, men, women, young, old—The Iliad evokes in poignant, searing detail the fate of every life ravaged by the Trojan War. And, as told by Homer, this ancient tale of a particular Bronze Age conflict becomes a sublime and sweeping evocation of the destruction of war throughout the ages.Carved close to the original Greek, acclaimed classicist Caroline Alexander’s new translation is swift and lean, with the driving cadence of its source—a translation epic in scale and yet devastating in its precision and power.

About Homer

Although recognized as one of the greatest ancient Greek poets, the life and figure of Homer remains shrouded in mystery. Credited with the authorship of the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, Homer, if he existed, is believed to have lived during the ninth century BC, and has been identified variously as a Babylonian, an Ithacan, or an Ionian. Regardless of his citizenship, Homer’s poems and speeches played a key role in shaping Greek culture, and Homeric studies remains one of the oldest continuous areas of scholarship, reaching from antiquity through to modern times.

About Caroline Alexander

Caroline Alexander is the author of the international bestsellers The Endurance and The Bounty and, more recently, The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of the Trojan War. She is a contributing writer for National Geographic magazine and her work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and Outside, among other publications. Alexander received her doctorate in classics from Columbia University and was the founder of the Department of Classics at the University of Malawi in East Africa.


Reviews

Goodreads review by André on January 25, 2015

I read it when was in school and it was obligatory Portuguese subject reading. I tried a second reading and decided to give another opportunity to this masterpiece and I really really enjoyed it even more than the first time.......more

Goodreads review by Lucinda on September 17, 2011

The best story ever-it has everything-love, romance, war, brave, handsome men, exotic places, monsters, beautiful women-its all in these two stories. Odysseus is my all-time favorite hero, and although he is a brave hero, he has his faults and it's this combination that makes him so lovable and what......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on February 11, 2011

Other than the gruesome, violent images often presented in magnificent detail (hey, it is a war!), I really enjoy reading Homer's epic poem. Where else are we given such insight into stubborn Agamemnon, noble Hector, intelligent and well-spoken Odysseus, lazy and spineless Paris, guilt-ridden Helen,......more

Goodreads review by Elena on February 15, 2021

After reading “The Song of Achilles” I found a new interest in Ancient Greece, as well as the myths and stories that go along with it. “The Iliad and the Odyssey” is as much about history and collective humanity as it is about the actual story of the Trojan War and Odysseus’s voyage home. Although a......more