Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography (Books That Changed the World) [Hardcover]

Alberto Manguel (Author)

Book Description

Series: Books That Changed the World | Publication Date: December 21, 2007

No one knows if there was a man named Homer, but there is no little doubt that the epic poems assembled under his name form the cornerstone of Western literature. The Iliad and The Odyssey, with their incomparable tales of the Trojan War, brace Achilles, Ulysses and Penelope, the Cyclops, the beautiful Helen of Troy, and the petulant gods, are familiar to most readers because they are so pervasive. They have fed our imagination for over two and a half millennia, inspiring everyone from Plato to Virgil, Pope to Joyce, Dante to Wolfgang Petersen. In this graceful and sweeping addition to the Books that Change the World Series, Alberto Manguel traces the lineage of the epic poems. He considers their original purpose, either as allegory or record of history, surveys the challenges the pagan poems presented to the early Christian world, and traces their spread after the Reformation. Following Homer through the greatest literature ever created, Manguel’s book above all delights in the poems themselves, the “primordial spring without which there would have been no culture.”

Editorial Reviews

Review

"* 'Alberto Manguel is to reading what Casanova was to sex.' Scotland on Sunday * 'Compendious, clear and engaged accounts... this series is a big success.' A. C. Grayling, The Times * 'A dizzying and hugely enjoyable tour of the Homeric project... from Virgil's remaking of the Iliad and the Odyssey into the Roman national epic, to scholars in medieval Baghdad who could recite Homer word for word from memory, and to the dramatic retelling of the Iliad by Alessandro Baricco... A hugely stimulating read.' - Mary Beard, The Times * 'Nothing less than a history of literature itself... An ambitious project - but one for which the author is perfectly qualified. This is recognisably the work of a compulsive translator and anthologiser: for like a literary bloodhound, Manguel has only to pick up the scent of a theme, and he is off pursuing it through a dizzy variety of languages and genres... Brilliant.' - Tom Holland, Spectator" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alberto Manguel is a world-renowned writer, translator and editor of literary anthologies. His works include A History of Reading, published in 1997 and his novel, Stevenson Under the Palm Trees, published in 2005. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; First American Edition edition (December 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871139766
• ISBN-13: 978-0871139764
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An erudite and impressive literary critique, January 27, 2008

By 

Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" (Nolensville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography (Books That Changed the World) (Hardcover)

Alberto Manguel's latest volume does not contain the text of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Instead, It is a "biography" in the sense of being a commentary on how Homer's works have been translated, interpreted, adapted, vilified, and lauded for more than 2,500 years.

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Manguel says, stand at the fountainhead, or primordial spring, of Western culture. Indeed, without these masterpieces, he asserts, there would have been no culture.

In the same vein, the French poet and novelist Raymond Queneau (1903-1978) opined, "Every great work of literature is either the Iliad [a story pf conflict, strife, battle and war] or the Odyssey [a story of a journey or exile and, after much wandering, a homecoming]."

The extraordinary power of the Iliad, Manguel says, comes from the fact that it holds in tension two truths: our fascination with war and our abhorrence of its cruelty: "Homer fully understood our ambiguous relationship to violence, our desire for it and our hatred of it, the beauty we ascribe to it and the horror it makes us feel."

Manguel traces Homer's influence through the centuries: Virgil's The Aeneid, Dante's The Divine Comedy, Goethe's Faust, Cervantes' Don Quixote, James Joyce's Ulysses, with numerous others in between.

With its wide-ranging knowledge and perceptive insights, this erudite volume is eminently impressive. Manguel has compressed much wisdom, beauty, and truth within its pages.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful literary commentary, October 26, 2008

By 

M. A. Krul (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography (Books That Changed the World) (Hardcover)

Alberto Manguel, well-known Argentinian writer and literary critic, was chosen as the commentator on the Iliad and the Odyssey in the Atlantic's excellent 'book biographies' series. He does so with the erudition, the insight, the wit, and the cultural knowledge that he has justly become renowned for. Few people love books as much as Alberto Manguel does, and fewer still are capable of conveying this love so well to the reader. Homer's epics, treasures of world literature, are for this reason the ideal playing field for Manguel's literary exploration.

The book starts with discussions of the content of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the possible nature and historical context of Homer, the works' role in oral tradition and comparisons to famous oral bardic traditions in other regions (in particular here Milman Parry's pathbreaking comparative work on Homer), and so on. Then Manguel delves into the reception of the books: in more or less chronological order tracing their status and importance, as well as their influence on other writers from Virgil to Dante to Joyce, through the ages. This is supremely interesting material, and Manguel is a serious though light-hearted guide to the wealth of material on and about Homer and his works, from Medieval Catholic reception to Margaret Atwood's feminist interpretations.

Alberto Manguel also, as might be expected, takes his time to consider some of the different translations of the poems that have been made, into English as well as other languages; choosing for this book itself the authoritative modern Penguin translation by Robert Fagles (recently deceased) whom my parents had still known. He reveals here some remarkable information about the degree to which Homer was lost in the original during the Middle Ages - Dante himself had probably not read him in Greek, nor had he ever heard of Sophocles and Aeschylus, who were also yet to be rediscovered in his time. Latin was the dominant language, especially in Catholic circles, for the transmission of Homeric culture for a long time.

At the closing of the book, Manguel reflects upon the effect of the works themselves as literary achievements, and considers why they have always, in such different times and places, made such a strong impact on the reader. He concludes that it is the tension between love of war, adventure and wildness on the one hand, and abhorrence of violence, wanton destruction (from fickle Gods) and disorder on the other hand, both equally part of the human condition, that is so forcefully expressed in the Homeric epics. Manguel's book itself will also be a delight for lovers of literature.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating and entertaining read!, June 8, 2009

By 

Sahra Badou "Bibliophile" (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey: A Biography (Books That Changed the World) (Hardcover)

I read the Iliad and the Odyssey in the French language back when I was in school. I loved the stories, but found the text a little hard to read (I wasn't exactly used to reading poetic stories). My teacher though failed to tell us about the life of Homer; either that or I was sleeping in class!

The author tells an amazing biography of Homer. Actually, he tells us many biographies of Homer. Was Homer a real person, or an imaginary one? In other words, did Homer really exist? Was Homer a woman (some scholars think so)? Did Homer write the Iliad and the Odyssey, or did many bards throughout the centuries write them (each adding to the story line)? Those are really fascinating questions, and what's more fascinating, is that no one really knows the answers. Scholars have their own theories, and many disagree with each other. So who really was Homer (if he ever existed that is)? Was Homer a poet, a philosopher, a prophet...?

It is fascinating that the city of Troy was discovered in the twentieth century, making Homer's stories more real. Did the characters in the Iliad and Odyssey exist as well? Did the beautiful Helen exist, or was she a figment of Homer's imagination? No one really knows.

The author starts the book by giving a short summary of the Iliad and the Odyssey. I found this very useful since I had forgotten some of the stories.

The author also explains the impact the Iliad and the Odyssey had throughout history on those who read them. For example, how did the Christians and the Muslims view these two masterpieces? I particularly found the chapter on the Muslims and Homer very interesting.

Another interesting fact is that not all translations of Homer's work are equal. Lucky are the readers who can read his work in the original Greek. For the rest of us, choosing the right translation is important. In this book, the author chooses the translation of Robert Fagles.

The chapter on Virgil was extremely interesting. Some scholars wanted Homer's books banned from schools in favor of Virgil's books.

How did different writers and scholars view Homer throughout the ages? Interestingly, some viewed Homer as vulgar and interested only in wars. He was accused of being immoral, and some wanted the Iliad and Odyssey banned from schools. Dante, for example, placed Homer in Hell in his book `The Divine Comedy.'

Other scholars viewed Homer's stories as an explanation of the human state (one of pain and misery). Whatever the interpretation of Homer's work, his literary masterpieces were required readings in all schools and universities! I certainly had to read both the Iliad and the Odyssey back when I was in school, and I'm glad I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it for all serious readers!