The Iliad, Homer
The Iliad, Homer
5 Rating(s)
List: $24.49 | Sale: $17.14
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The Iliad

Author: Homer

Narrator: Michael Page

Unabridged: 20 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/16/2010

Categories: Fiction, Classic

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its center is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader, Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles's close friend Patroclus, Achilles storms back into battle to take revenge—knowing full well that this will ensure his own early death. This tragic series of events is interwoven with powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb and flow of battle, of the domestic world inside Troy's besieged city of Ilium, and of the conflicts between the gods on Olympus as they argue over the fate of mortals.

The Iliad is a work of extraordinary pathos and profundity that concerns itself with issues as fundamental as the meaning of life and death. Even the heroic ethic itself—with its emphasis on pride, honor, prowess in battle, and submission to the inexorable will of the gods—is not left unquestioned.

This version of the Iliad is the translation by Alexander Pope.

About Homer

Homer is a legendary ancient Greek poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The ancient Greeks generally believed that Homer was a historical individual, but modern scholars are skeptical: no reliable biographical information has been handed down from classical antiquity, and the poems themselves manifestly represent the culmination of many centuries of oral storytelling and a well-developed "formulaic" system of poetic composition. It has been suggested that "Homer" is "not the name of a historical poet, but a fictitious or constructed name."


Reviews

Goodreads review by Grace Tjan on December 04, 2013

What I learned from this book (in no particular order): 1. Victory or defeat in ancient Greek wars is primarily the result of marital spats and/or petty sibling rivalry in Zeus and Hera’s dysfunctional divine household. 2. Zeus “the father of gods and men” is a henpecked husband who is also partial to......more

Goodreads review by emma on April 30, 2023

welcome to...THE APRILIAD! for those of you who are new here and do not yet feel the existential dread and heart-stopping moroseness that a title + month pun inspires in the hearts of many... 1) hi. and 2) you have been cursed to stumble upon yet another installment of PROJECT LONG CLASSICS, in which......more

Goodreads review by Emily May on January 05, 2019

3½ stars Two mysteries were solved by my finally finishing The Iliad. 1) It is so obvious why these Ancient Greek stories have survived for so many years-- it's all gory violence and sex. Homer tapped into these marketing tools early. 2) I now understand why puritanical attitudes toward female sexua......more

Goodreads review by J.G. Keely on June 30, 2009

Pablo Picasso spent his entire life trying desperately to do something new, something unique. He moved from style to style, mastering and then abandoning both modern and classical methods, even trying to teach his trained artist's hand to paint like a child. In 1940, four French teens and a dog stumb......more

Goodreads review by Persephone's Pomegranate on January 21, 2024

Achilles - sexually ambiguous, rage-prone, has a sensitive tendon. Patroclus - 'best friend' of Achilles. Ruined everything for everyone. Odysseus - outsmarted the Trojans, had sex with a witch and a nymph. Agamemnon - worst husband, worst father, worst Greek, worst human. Menelaus - lost......more