The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Bernard Knox (Editor, Introduction), Robert Fagles (Translator) "Iliad" is a word that means "a poem about Ilium" (i.e., Troy), and Homer's great epic poem has been known as "The Iliad" ever since..." (more)
Key Phrases: fast trim ships, winging orders, marshals the thunderheads, Father Zeus, House of Death, Prince Hector (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This groundbreaking English version by Robert Fagles is the most important recent translation of Homer's great epic poem. The verse translation has been hailed by scholars as the new standard, providing an Iliad that delights modern sensibility and aesthetic without sacrificing the grandeur and particular genius of Homer's own style and language. The Iliad is one of the two great epics of Homer, and is typically described as one of the greatest war stories of all time, but to say the Iliad is a war story does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action and characters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth and history in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

This timeless poem-more than 2,700 year old-still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amid devastation and destruction as it moves inexorably to its wrenching, tragic conclusion. Readers of this epic poem will be gripped by the finely tuned translation and enlightening introduction.

Translated by Robert Fagles
Introduction and Notes by Bernard

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140275363
• ISBN-13: 978-0140275360
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A readable Iliad in modern idiom, June 29, 2002

By	Michael Wells Glueck "EditAndPublishYourBook.com" (Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

Robert Fagles's translation of Homer's Iliad is spiritually if not literally true to the original. Both versions repeat set speeches and descriptions in precisely the same words, and the translation exhibits a fairly regular rhythmic beat. But Homer's Greek was chanted, and the set passages were like refrains in which listeners could, if they chose, join in as a chorus. In English, the repetitions sometimes become tedious, especially when the same speech is given three times in two pages, as in the relay of Zeus's orders in Book II. Especially noteworthy is Bernard Knox's long and fascinating Introduction, a masterpiece of literary criticism and scholarship which conveys Homer's grim attitude toward war, the interplay of divine and human will, and the ancient concepts of honor, courage, and virility in the face of the stark finality of death. Knox also includes a succinct explanation of the quantitative, rather than accentual, basis of Greek (and Latin) verse. For easy readability, Fagles's translation is without rival. For elegance and poetry, however, I recommend Richmond Lattimore's older but still gripping and fluent translation.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Translation To Read Out Loud, December 1, 2000

By	Nous (Boulder, CO United States) - See all my reviews

I own two copies of The Iliad. I own the Lattimore translation for study, and the Fagles translation for love of the story.

Translating ancient Greek is tough work. The author must constantly fight the battle to match the *meaning* of the original and the *feel* of the original in a language built for a very different culture and time.

Lattimore was invaluable when I was translating passages myself for college. He comes closest to writing ancient Greek in clear English. But when I want to lose myself in the story and action and feel myself swept away by the rage of Achilles, I reach for Fagles. He, more than any other translator I have read, carries the pace and force of the original Homeric Greek in an English that breathes life into the work without calling attention to itself.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of all the versions, the one I prefer!, October 1, 2000

By	K. L Sadler (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I've had to read The Iliad for a variety of classes. Literature, Greek culture, etc., etc. Each professor used a different translation of The Iliad. Now I am Deaf and English is as foreign a language as I want to get. I do not have the linquistic background, or the patience for that particular venue of study. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Iliad this time around rather finding it as a task I had to get through. Maybe it is just being older, but I think a lot of it had to do with Fagles' fine translation of this classic. They continue to use this version in many classes at the University of Pittsburgh, and when I have friends who have to read the Iliad, I tell them to go look for this particular translation. How accurate Fagles is I will leave up to academia to argue over...all I know is that I got an A+ in the class thanks to him. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh