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Ἰλιάς ; Ὀδύσσεια = The Iliad and Odyssey, Homer The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.The Iliad Characters: Ajax, Odysseus, Helen of Troy, Menelaus, Paris, Hector, Achilles, Agamemnon, Aeneas, Sarpedon, Priam, Cassandra,
Other than the gruesome, violent images often presented in magnificent detail (hey, it is a war!), I really enjoy reading Homer's epic poem. Where else are we given such insight into stubborn Agamemnon, noble Hector, intelligent and well-spoken Odysseus, lazy and spineless Paris, guilt-ridden Helen, the wrath of the warrior Achille's and how vain he can be? We can identify with Trojan and Greek alike, agonizing with both sides over the destructiveness of war. We get the inside story on all the G...
I am reading this to two sets of students and it never gets old. My only complaint is that the Provensons left out Argos. I do believe it is the best children's Homer I have read. I love the chapter breakdowns which are almost parallel to the poems. The Provensons never disappoint, do they?
The “Iliad and the Odyssey” keeps you on the edge of your seat from the beginning of the story to the end. I’m not into books like this one but I LOVED this book. The adventure, mystery, and the understanding of pre-history are great for anyone who wants to read this book. All these things made me want to read the book over again and even write a book review on it. First the adventure is wild from the start. Fighting the Cyclopes and winning made me think that no matter what the size of the pers...
okay i miiiiight actually dnf this by which i mean... mark it as finished without reading the odyssey part. because as cool as this edition is, visually (gold pages!!!), it's in prose, and reading the iliad in poetry has made me realize that - holy shit, guys - an epic poem should probably be read in poetry! or at least it's more fun that way for me. gary i need a non-prose odyssey etc etc anyway shoutout to my brother for letting me borrow this in the first place
5 STARS Laertes called out in deep delight,"What a day for me, dear gods! What joy - my son and my grandson vying over courage!" I have finally tackled Homer, all in one fell swoop. And of course they both will receive full marks. I mean, who am I to rate literature that dates back to the 8th Century BC. Since I read a translation of the work, and listened to it on audio, I can say that it was quite easy to understand and read very well by John Lescault. A little bit about Homer, according to
After reading “The Song of Achilles” I found a new interest in Ancient Greece, as well as the myths and stories that go along with it. “The Iliad and the Odyssey” is as much about history and collective humanity as it is about the actual story of the Trojan War and Odysseus’s voyage home. Although at times difficult to read and tiring, it is a timeless piece of literature that has inspired countless other great works of art. Odysseus has survived the Trojan War and the perilous journey back to I...
Very nice audio book telling these immortal classics. To me these were the world's first superheroes and villains. Recommended
It didn't take me long to figure out that I'm not a Homer girl. I think the problem was partly that after years of taking in entertaining, probably dumbed down versions of the stories, the reality ended up a bit of a let down. Another problem was I had trouble liking any of the characters. Achilles? Hector? Even Odysseus? Ugh! Whiney, deceitful, and not very likeable!The Iliad was pretty painful to get through. I forced myself to finish and didn't even get a payoff in the end. What happened to T...
The translation was pretty readable. This is part of the Great Books of the western world Collection that I have set out to read.Ulysses is my favorite Greek hero.Always was always will be. I read parts of some butchered version in high-school but this one seems to have satisfied my goddess needs.I think we perhaps need some revitalization of the sentiments present in these books to save America from going down the cultural tubes. When the Odyssey is replaced with the "jersey Shore" cannot possi...
The best story ever-it has everything-love, romance, war, brave, handsome men, exotic places, monsters, beautiful women-its all in these two stories. Odysseus is my all-time favorite hero, and although he is a brave hero, he has his faults and it's this combination that makes him so lovable and what makes this story one of the greatest of all time. The text can be difficult to read, and following the who's who of the gods and goddesses can be quite a feat. I've read it several times, I never get...
I read it when was in school and it was obligatory Portuguese subject reading. I tried a second reading and decided to give another opportunity to this masterpiece and I really really enjoyed it even more than the first time.
This review is of the translation by Robert Fagles.I've compiled a (non-exhaustive) list of every translation of the Iliad and Odyssey I've read, with links to my reviews when I've written them. Translators' names are listed in chronological order of the date their translation was first published. Translations into languages other than English are marked with an initial asterisk. If it's listed here, I've read it; I will eventually write a review for those without working links, I promise.Odysse...
It's a damn Greek tragedy!The Iliad takes us through the battle of Troy and the Greek invasion. We are able to Marvel at great warriors like Hector and Achilles. We are able to hear of their struggles and their woes and eventually their deaths.The Odyssey takes us through the 10-year struggle to return home after the Trojan War has ended. Odysseus battles mystical creatures and the Wrath of the Gods as he tries desperately to come back home to his throne.Homer is definitely a master of the Greek...
This is the war that started it all. The legend that became a culture, converted into fiction, comic books and movies. The most meaningless yet brutal war that took two decades, thousands of good men and gods wasted their everything to become a part of. This is the one and only: Iliad and Odyssey.Iliad ⭐⭐⭐“Any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.”Iliad was a confusing, brutal and unn...
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3.5 I only read "The Odyssey" this time through. I haven't read it since high school and have been wanting to read it again. It is obviously well written and a classic. The 'legend/epic' style is different from what I normally read, but I enjoyed it. As a female though I couldn't help but get annoyed with Odysseus sleeping with goddesses etc. while Penelope is pining away for him. Although, I also got annoyed at Penelope's inability to send the suitors away, so maybe they were meant for each oth...
Well, after hearing of the Iliad and the Odyssey for my entire life through the miasma of culture, media, and that one primary school teacher who, to my memory, taught me nothing but greek myth (big up Miss Fahey), I finally got around to reading them. Well, kind of. Reading stories this old is like saying you finally heard Bohemian Rhapsody, but it was played by some guy in a pub who heard another guy describe it (admitantly, really well) on the radio from the time his dad played it for him aft...
Together these two works attributed to Homer are considered among the oldest surviving works of Western literature, dating to probably the eighth century BCE, and are certainly among the most influential. I can't believe I once found Homer boring. In my defense, I was a callow teen, and having a book assigned in school often tends to perversely make you hate it. But then I had a "Keats conversion experience." Keats famously wrote a poem in tribute to a translation of Homer by Chapman who, Keats
September 5th, 20163 stars.Finished the Iliad! Finally done. *I've read it for my Foreign literature class. It took me a month, and not because it was boring or anything (although some chapters were less exciting than others), it's just really hard to read because of the metre - hexameter. Not a natural metre for a Russian poetry, so it was unusual. But I did like this book. Especially all those gruesome descriptions of death. It was sort of fascinating. Also I did like a lot of the characters -...