The Iliad, Robert Fitzgerald
The Iliad, Robert Fitzgerald
7 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
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The Iliad
The Fitzgerald Translation

Author: Robert Fitzgerald, Homer

Narrator: Dan Stevens

Unabridged: 13 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/16/2014

Synopsis

Since it was first published more than forty years ago, Robert Fitzgerald's prizewinning translation of Homer's battle epic has become a classic in its own right: a standard against which all other versions of The Iliad are compared. This definitive translation of Homer's epic is timeless in its authority and always fresh in its vivid rendering of the preeminent war story of the Western world.

In keeping with the oral tradition of the time, Dan Stevens's extraordinary narration makes this epic tale come alive. The listener becomes totally immersed in the adventure and drama of the story – this is the way The Iliad was meant to be experienced.

Also included on the program is a portion of the poem read in ancient Greek so that listeners may experience the lyricism and music of the original language.

About Dan Stevens

Dan Stevens is a film, television, and theater actor whose many celebrated performances include Downton Abbey’s Matthew Crawley. On stage, Stevens has appeared in numerous Shakespeare productions for the Peter Hall Company as well as West End revivals of Arcadia and The Vortex. He starred in the 2012 Broadway hit The Heiress and is a regular columnist for the Daily Telegraph. His previous audio credits include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants.

About Robert Fitzgerald

Robert Fitzgerald's versions of the Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Oedipus cycle of Sophocles (with Dudley Fitts) are also classics. At his death, in 1985, he was Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard.

About Homer

Homer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the creator of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homer's works form the groundwork of the Western Canon and are universally praised for their genius. Their formative influence in shaping many key aspects of Greek culture was recognized by the Greeks themselves, who considered him as their instructor.

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

Quotes

“Fitzgerald's smooth, musical verse is perfectly matched in this performance by the light, honeyed tones of Dan Stevens, the British actor who played Matthew Crawley in the first three seasons of "Downton Abbey." Stevens has beautiful, clear articulation, and wonderful pacing, and he really seems to enjoy the poetry of the words. I confess that I could listen to him all day.” —The Boston Globe

“The lightness of Fitzgerald's touch, his almost conversational poetry, is well suited to the spoken word and to an audio version. His translation is in turn well served by the audio production... The reader is the talented actor Dan Stevens… his tone is not conventionally ‘bardic,' which is to say not dark, ponderous or declamatory, but rather young, bright and noble – as if King Harry had decided to deliver Homer instead of his St. Crispin's Day speech. The epics conjure a shimmering cast of some of the most memorable characters in all of literature... Stevens does a fine job of evoking each character distinctly... his readings play like time-honored storytelling, cozy and accessible.” —The New York Times

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