Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad [Hardcover]

Rosemary Sutcliffe (Author), Alan Lee (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. Rich with arresting imagery and memorable characters, its powerful metaphors still permeate modern culture. This brilliant retelling offers young readers an exciting introduction to the heroes of ancient Greece while providing the complete story of the battle of Troy. The legendary beauty, Helen, is abducted, leading to a decade-long conflict in which even the gods and goddesses take sides and intervene. This is the Trojan War, where the most valiant heroes of the ancient world are pitted against one another. Here Hector, Ajax, Achilles, and Odysseus meet their most formidable challenges and in some cases, their tragic ends. Rosemary Sutcliff makes such extraordinary stories as those of the Trojan horse, of Aphrodite and the golden apple, and of the fearsome warrior women, the Amazons, accessible to contemporary young people. Superb illustrations enhance the story's dramatic appeal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sutcliff, who died last year, authored numerous retellings of canonical texts for younger readers. Here she brings into vivid focus the mythic story of the Trojan War, with all of its visually dramatic elements. While carefully tempering the bias towards the Greeks that exists in the original poem, Sutcliff's text leaves many of the epic's powerful metaphors intact: "The dark tide of warriors poured through and became a river of flame." Also preserved are a good many disturbing images ("Hector's body was dragged behind them, twisting and lurching over the rough ground, his dark hair flying and fouled with dust and all the filth of the battlefield"); and while there is no doubt that this authenticity maintains the saga's integrity and enhances its impact, younger or particularly sensitive readers may be disturbed by the violence. Accompanying the dense, earnestly told tale are Lee's cool-toned watercolors, which frequently take up the greater portion of the large format double-page spreads. Dreamy, yet highly detailed and filled with representational images, these illustrations are in keeping with the story's mythic grandeur. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 5 and up. "Achilles sat among his ships, nursing his anger as though it were a red rose in his breast." The late Rosemary Sutcliff always knew how to humanize the epic heroes without diminishing their power. Now, with the same kind of lyrical prose that distinguished her Arthurian trilogy, she takes on Homer's Iliad. People whose names we all know--Helen, Hector, Achilles, Odysseus, etc.--are all woven into one great story, with the jealous gods taking sides in the Greeks' 10-year siege of the city of Troy. Sutcliff's strong rhythms and Lee's misty watercolors in shades of brown, blue, and silvergray make this large-size volume great for reading aloud. There are dull patches about desultory battles, funeral games, and the weary machinations of gods and people, but you can skip those and get to the dramatic confrontations. Achilles sulks in his tent, then driven mad with grief and rage at the death of his friend Patroclus, he not only kills Hector, but also drags the body through the dust and filth of the battlefield. For all the rules of honor, this is a filthy battlefield, "clotted with blood," the soldiers drunk with fire and killing. Lee's illustrations show gateways choked with soldiers and chariots, men and women bent with sorrow. The climax, the story of the Wooden Horse, is amazingly told, taut with cunning and terror. Hazel Rochman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books (January 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845073592
• ISBN-13: 978-1845073596
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rosemary Sutcliff wrote more than 40 historical novels for young adults-including The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, The Lantern Bearers, The Sword and the Circle, and Black Ships Before Troy-five adult novels, and several books of nonfiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent introduction to the epic!, March 31, 2000

By 

John Anderson (Bar Harbor, ME USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Ships Before Troy (Hardcover)

Having been brought up in a strong Classical background I was a little nervous of a "modern children's version" of the Illiad. I shouldn't have worried. I actually bought BLACK SHIPS for an undergraduate that I was tutoring on sources of modern British literature, but my 7 year old daughter took it away before I could get it to the college. I worried at first that Clare might be scared by some of the very dramatic pictures, but she was enthralled with the whole story and kept coming back to it for days afterwards. I should add that my undergrad was also entranced once I finnaly got it to her and felt that it compared very well with the complete translation of the original that we also read. New age? Hardly! This is a scholarly-but-fun-interpretaion of a gem.

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Again and Again, July 22, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Ships Before Troy (Hardcover)

Both my husband and I love the Iliad and wanted our children to grow up with it. We have about eight versions of the Iliad at home, and while our children like all of them, the Sutcliffe is far and above the best -- it doesn't patronize, it loses very very little of the plot's narrative, ethical, or emotional complexity, and the reviewer who claimed that "moral messages" are lost must not realize that Homer himself, thank the Gods, moralizes very little and that everything that could reasonably be called by that slightly unenchanting term 'message' is well and alive in this version. Over the last two years, we have read it aloud to both children (now 6+7) at least five times, both have read it or in it by themselves as well, and neither we nor they have grown tired of it. It isn't an easy book to read for younger children, and they need their parents the first time around, but its relative difficulty prolongs its shelflife considerably -- I imagine our children will return to it for quite a few years. The rather dramatic art work is certainly not 'new age,' but neither does it classicize. It's made a great present for our children's friends. My only complaint is that it hasn't come out in paperback.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent re-telling of The Iliad for children!, September 24, 2002

By 

Kathleen Funk (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Ships Before Troy (Hardcover)

Rosemary Sutcliffe keeps the drama and poetic language of Homer's "The Iliad" alive in this wonderful version. My 6- and 8-year-old children sat glued to their seats as I read this story to them. The causes of the Trojan War (The Golden Apple, Paris and Helen) are explained well, and the ensuing battles are depicted with vivid details. Alan Lee's illustrations are perfect for this story-- they give a clear idea of what is happening without being gory. My children loved this book, as did I. I heartily recommend it for a read-aloud, or even for an adult who hasn't read "The Iliad" by Homer. It's a wonderful introduction.