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The origin of Western literature is a Big Bang: the first thing ever written has never been surpassed. It is my resolution to re-read the Iliad at least once a year in the original Greek. Like the Big Bang was an explosion of all the elements of the universe, everything written after the Iliad is already in it. All poetry, every action movie, tragedy, and psychological thriller, all human triumph, stupidity and sorrow is there, in Homer’s verses, which echo the rhythm of the sea.
Πριν λίγες μέρες, τελείωσα ένα από πιο σημαντικά και πιο εντυπωσιακά βιβλία φανταστικού και μη που έχουν γραφτεί ποτέ, την Ιλιάδα. Με πιο ψύχραιμο μάτι, μπορώ να διακρίνω κάποιες αδυναμίες, αλλά η γενική μου εντύπωση ήταν ένα δίμηνο γεμάτο «ωωω», «ααα», «τι λες τώρα!», «τι έγραψε ο θεός!» και άλλα τέτοια ευτράπελα. Βρήκα λοιπόν τον ποιητή στον πάνθεον των δημιουργών, εκεί που του έπλενε τα πόδια ο Σαίξπηρ και του έκαναν αέρα ο Μιχαήλ Άγγελος και ο Μότσαρτ (βλ. πίνακα Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingre...
War is an unending horror of graphic violence in which human suffering seems to be simply sport for the gods. The prose translation in these two volumes has been slightly updated from the 1920s version and its sentence structure and style seem to often follow Greek, rather than idiomatic English. Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to read. I tried, unsuccessfully, to read two of the verse translations (Fitzgerald's and Lattimore's) and just could not get into them.
Edição excelente
The Iliad by Homer and adapted in Hollywood as TroyAnother version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... and http://realini.blogspot.ro/This is a familiar, stupendous and fundamental work.Even when adapted by a major Hollywood studio it is still a magnificent account.The storyline is well known-- Beautiful Helen is seduced and taken away from her husband Menelaus by the attractive and young Paris- Troy is besieged by Greek allied for...
I read all 24 books of this translation but cannot find it on Goodreads. It was an Audible selections with Charlton Griffin as the narrator. It was my 2nd time through this edition and not that different from Lattimore. Griffin's voice is uniquely appropriate for epic poetry.
I'm not actually using the Loeb to read this but it's hard in GoodReads to find the correct editions...I'm using the Willcock commentary (Bristol Classical Press) this time...just going through the first book again to refresh my Greek. I may do more. At this point I don't yet know how far I'll go but I'll definitely review the first book.
I've read the Iliad three or four times; this is my second reading in the original Greek, and it's not going quickly -- my first book of the month on the 17th. Long considered the beginning of Western literature, until they found the Epic of Gilgamesh, which may have been an influence on it, it certainly influenced everything that came later. I can't really begin to give a review of a classic book like this. Of course much of the interest for a modern reader is more in trying to understand the b...
I tried the audiobook of one translation a couple times and could not get into it, but I tried the Loeb edition and loved it. Finally I know why the Iliad is so famous. I'm eager to get into the second half. I wish I could read Classical Greek, but alas. . .
Perfection.
A little drier than the Odyssey in my opinion, but still decent reading material for a lazy week.
Love this edition by David B. Monro, with a good introduction, a very useful summary of the peculiarities of Homeric grammar, and notes to the Greek text.
The first half of one of the most important books of all time - a timeless classic by the Greek poet Homer. I only read an abridged version of this tale in my youth and decided it was high time to read the whole thing and was not disappointed. This is called a classic for a reason.I did not know how little Achilles appears in the first half. Hector, the hero of the Trojans, is favoured and blessed by Zeus here in the first half of the story, until the scales of the war are tipped in favour of th...
Loeb Classical Library with more than 500 volumes to choose from covers both Greek & Roman times. Written both in the origional language on the left hand & English on the right page, you cannot go wrong whatever your subject, History, Plays, etc.
The single greatest novel ever written, in this humble classicist's opinion. The staggering emotional turmoil, the impenetrable code of arete, the abundance of gorgeous prose.... a brilliant book. Perfectly ensconces and punctuates the values of the heroic age; the trepidation and ferocity of pre-Hoplite combat, the tension and breath-stilling magnificence of the agon, the hubris and sense of immortality among so many of the warrior-aristocracy, and the demand for men of excellence and status to...
Any translation of Greek epic into English must suffer considerably, as the English language is ill-suited to the melody and vigor of Homeric or Attic Greek. That being said, a translator may yet save himself by imparting his poetry with a flowing lyricism and appropriate dignity to instill something of the original; Philip Stanhope Worsley achieves this feat and more in his translation of The Iliad. To improve flow within his stanzas, Worsley eschews heroic couplets in favor of the Spenserian s...
Greatest epic ever written. A guy's book. Terrific on all levels. A must read by anyone who claims to be educated.
ου νέμεσις Τρωας και ευκνήμιδας Αχαιους τοιηιδ’ αμφι γυναικι πολυν χρόνον άλγεα πάσχειν• είθε και λέξειάς τε γνοίης.
Murray's translations have dated. They are insufficient on their own. Prose translations—especially when published parallel to the Greek—are infuriating. But they have a beauty of their own right. Read the Loebs side by side to Lattimore's verse translations.
I decided to read the Iliad out of sheer curiosity. I obviously knew the general outline of the story but nothing of the details, so this was a very enlightening and fascinating experience.The fact that the translator had chosen the Roman names for the Greek gods instead of the original ones bothered me as I had to keep reminding myself (and occasionally rechecking who someone actually was) and that dropped me off the flow. Example: Jove = Jupiter = Zeus, Ulysses = Odysseus and Juno = Hera and s...