Quantity:

Express Checkout with PayPhrase

What's this? | Create PayPhrase

More Buying Choices

109 used & new from $0.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Share with Friends

Share your own customer images

Look inside this book

Tell the Publisher! I�d like to read this book on Kindle Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

The Iliad (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Samuel Butler (Translator)

3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Price:	$3.50 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
	Special Offers Available
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Monday, November 30? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Ordering for Christmas? To ensure delivery by December 24, choose Standard Shipping at checkout. Read more about holiday shipping.

38 new from $0.81 69 used from $0.01 2 collectible from $10.00

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Paperback $3.50 In Stock. Published June 24, 1999	Paperback, June 24, 1999	$3.50	$0.81	$0.01
Audio, Download Offsite Link $13.10 or less with new Audible membership Available at Audible.com.	Audio, Download Offsite Link	$13.10 or less with new Audible membership

Frequently Bought Together

Special Offers and Product Promotions

This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books, Single Copy Magazines, and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)

Over a hundred thousand items are eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. How do I find more eligible items?

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Odyssey (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Homer

5.0 out of 5 stars (2) $2.50

The Inferno (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) $3.50

The Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone (Thrift Edition)

by Sophocles

$3.50

Favorite Tales from the Arabian Nights' Entertainments (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Richard Francis Burton

$3.00

The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Leo Tolstoy

4.5 out of 5 stars (6) $2.00

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Epic masterpiece chronicles last days of the Trojan War—quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon, the battle for Helen of Troy, Greek siege of the city, Trojan counterattack, stratagem of the Trojan Horse, many other incidents and events. Vast in scope, fresh and noble in literary style. This edition reproduces the celebrated, highly readable, Samuel Butler prose translation.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek

Product Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (June 25, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0486408833
ISBN-13: 978-0486408835
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #333,434 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#56 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Homer

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Homer Page

Look Inside This Book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	81% buy the item featured on this page: The Iliad (Dover Thrift Editions) 3.4 out of 5 stars (8) $3.50
	8% buy The Odyssey (Dover Thrift Editions) 5.0 out of 5 stars (2) $2.50
	5% buy The Iliad of Homer 4.5 out of 5 stars (74) $10.08
	4% buy The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) 4.5 out of 5 stars (122) $11.56

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

homer(7)

epics(4)

achilles(3)

greece(3)

hector(3)

bards and minstrels(2)

classic mythology and literature(2)

greek literature(2)

in the mediterranean(2)

anthologies(1)

Agree with these tags?

See all 16 tags...

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A poor rendition of a timeless classic, August 7, 2000

By	ankh fire (USA) - See all my reviews

While the words "Iliad" usually conjure bad memories of High School English classes, this great epic of the end of the Trojan War survived all these years for a reason. Homer gets a bit redundant, with his word choice and with the material (it is mostly just a bunch of people dying, after all) but this is still a good example of the sweeping, bold storytelling of the ancient Greek poets. The Iliad mostly focuses on Achilles on the Achaeans' side and Hector on the Trojans' side. It begins with the argument between Achilles and Agamemnon, and ends with Hector's funeral.

Though this is a wonderful story, and this is an inexpensive edition, I was disappointed in the way it was presented. Instead of being written in verse, like it was meant to be, it is typed in prose form, which loses the rhythm and even some of the interest. Also, the translator chose to use the Roman names of the gods, which some people prefer, but in this story particularly I much prefer the Greek names, which are more familiar (and it was a Greek war, after all.) If you are just reading this book because you have to, this edition will do just as well as any other. But if you really want to enjoy the story, look for one written in verse form with the Greek names.

Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Iliad" Compared to "The Odyssey" and Other Translations, October 25, 2008

By	Jacob Schriftman "Jokim" - See all my reviews

Any rating of "The Iliad" has to be primarily a rating of the translation, not of the work as such. Obviously "The Iliad" does not measure up to 21st-century expectations of riveting fiction, but then again, it was not written in the 21st century and it would be silly to expect anything of the sort.

It was instead written in about 800 BCE and is *the* cornerstone of Western literature. Homer was for the Greeks what the Bible was for the Hebrews: The poems gave the loose Greek tribes a common identity in a semi-mythical history. Homer, in a way, gave *birth* to Greece, and Greece contributed significantly to the birth of Western culture.

For this reason alone, anyone who lives in or identifies with the West should read "The Iliad." We wouldn't be here without it.

Now as far as modern taste and entertainment value goes, "The Iliad" might conceivably be disappointing. It tells the war at Troy with its principle heroes Achilles and Hector, but the story ends anti-climactically with the burial of Hector. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in it, nor is the city conquered.

For the retrospective account of the Trojan Horse and the fall of Troy, one has to turn to "The Odyssey" - which is a more engrossing tale than "The Iliad" in terms of human interest, fantasy, and a satisfying ending.

Now to this particular translation, made by English novelist Samuel Butler in 1898. I found it very clear and straightforward, but one has to realize that it turns Homer's poetry into prose, thereby losing much of its beauty. Furthermore, Butler uses the Roman names for the gods and other characters (e.g., Jove instead of Zeus), which I found unfortunate.

For a prose translation that uses the Greek names, I recommend the one by W.H.D. Rouse (The Iliad (Signet Classics)). The advantage of the Butler translation, however, is that it is in the public domain, which means that you can get it as an e-text on the internet and also as a free audio book at www.librivox.org.

Those who would like to appreciate "The Iliad" as poetry, may turn to the translation by George Chapman (The Odyssey (Wordsworth Classics)), though that one is quite a bit harder to understand than Butler's prose.

Overall, the Butler translation is a good deal. If you are not sure, sample the text online first or listen to the free audio.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Butler translation of The Iliad, August 26, 2008

By	Alexander Curtis "Xander" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Iliad (Dover Thrift Editions) After reading the Sam Butler translation of the Iliad and The Odyssey, I must say I'm quite pleased. Having been written in the latter half of the Victorian Period, the prose translation flows brilliantly. Butler's translations seem to be overlooked, which I find is quite sad being that they are astoundingly good. There are many good translations of Homer's works, and this one is certainly one of the best. I highly recommend the Butler translations of Homer.The Iliad, The Odyssey

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 8 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor translation, waste of time, rather read any other versions
Please do not mistake my low credit for Iliad. Homer is great or beyond great, but this translation is a ruinous endeavour. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Adam Li

5.0 out of 5 stars The ground is dark with blood
With many books, translations are negligible, with two obvious exceptions, one is the Bible, and surprisingly the other is The Iliad. Read more

Published 7 months ago by bernie

2.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly dated and poor translation
If this is your introduction to Homer or The Iliad, please, I am begging here, avoid this ancient translation. Read more

Published on February 21, 2007 by pandajama

3.0 out of 5 stars The Illiodic Prequel to the Odyssey
If you haven't read this book, and are hoping its gonna be another Odyssey, you'll be dissapointed. It is pretty good, but the story is set during the last of the Trojan War. Read more

Published on June 30, 2000 by Daniel Lewis

4.0 out of 5 stars The Illiad
THE BOOK IS HOT! THE BOOK IS HA HA HOTT!

Published on May 3, 2000 by Ty Domi

› See all 8 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
poetry Poets, come post your poetry!	607	15 hours ago
poetry Poets: how do you write poetry?	35	1 day ago
poetry What do you hate in a poem??	76	1 day ago
poetry Poets/Poetry: Who Needs To Be Recognized?	28	1 day ago
poetry I'm a youtube poet and show host:)	1	1 day ago
textbook Textbooks for Kindle DX?	65	1 day ago
textbook textbook scam	77	6 days ago