The Iliad

By: Homer

Published July 30th 1950 by Penguin Books (first published -890)

Category: Business

Pages: 469 pages

ISBN: 9780140440140

Description:
The Greeks considered The Iliad their greatest literary achievement, and no epic poem in any language has ever rivaled it. Out of a single episode in the Tale of Troy, Achilles' withdrawal from the fighting and his return to kill the Trojan hero Hector, Homer created a timeless, dramatic tragedy. His characters are heroic but their passions and problems are human and universal, and he presents them with compassion, understanding, and humor against the harsh background of war.

E.V. Rieu's prose translation has the same direct simplicity and subtle elegance which distinguishes his Odyssey; it moves swiftly and confidently through the greater complexity of The Iliad and never fall short of the nobility of Homer's theme.