The Iliad - by Homer (Paperback)

About the Book

"A new translation of Homer's Iliad, with introduction, notes, synopsis, and glossary."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

One of the oldest extant works of Western literature, the Iliad is a timeless epic poem of great warriors trapped between their own heroic pride and the arbitrary, often vicious decisions of fate and the gods. Renowned scholar and acclaimed translator Peter Green captures the Iliad in all its surging thunder for a new generation of readers.

Featuring an enticingly personal introduction, a detailed synopsis of each book, a wide-ranging glossary, and explanatory notes for the few puzzling in-text items, the book also includes a select bibliography for those who want to learn more about Homer and the Greek epic. This landmark translation--specifically designed, like the oral original, to be read aloud--will soon be required reading for every student of Greek antiquity, and the great traditions of history and literature to which it gave birth.

From the Back Cover

"Intended for a Greekless readership, veteran translator Peter Green's brilliant new version of the Iliad does full justice to the extraordinary genius of Homer's epic tragedy, not only capturing the original's pristine force but also skillfully controlling the rhythm, idiom, and rhetoric of the master poet's hexameter verses."--Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Clare College, Cambridge University

"It is not easy to stake out new ground with an Iliad translation, but Peter Green has done so magnificently. Reading--or, much better, hearing--this translation must be as close as one can get in English to the original Greek experience, and Green's sensitivity to the rhythms, word-order, and stylistic register of the original is truly impressive. The excitement and horror of the battle scenes are caught as vividly as the love and sadness in the parting of Hector and Andromache, and there is a brilliant and wide-ranging introduction too. A lifetime of experience as critic and translator has gone into this, and it shows."--Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University

"A compelling translation of the Iliad, written with great verve, and 'naturally declaimable' in English, as Peter Green intended. His concern for first-time readers makes the story, its rhetoric, and its poetic power vividly accessible."--Pat Easterling, Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge University

"What an achievement! This new translation of the Iliad by Peter Green is a fitting culmination to a lifetime of scholarship. The introduction alone stands as a contribution to the field, but it is the magnificence of the translation itself that will captivate the reader, bringing Homer to life once again. It is a sheer delight to read; I can only imagine the thrill that will be felt by those reading or hearing the verses, whether for the very first time or the millionth time...."--Eric H. Cline, Professor of Classics and Anthropology and the Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University

Review Quotes

"A fine translation, accurate and energetic."--Thomas L. Cooksey "Library Journal" (4/2/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"[Green] gets the interpretation right without interrupting the forward motion that is always Homer's aim--and this is one of the great virtues of Green's translation as a whole: its limber fluency."-- "New York Review of Books" (10/12/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"As reading Great Books migrates from the core of a college education to the margins, it's worth reflecting on just what students are missing and celebrating that there is a new addition to the Iliad family."-- "National Review" (6/14/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"Everything [in this book] is oriented towards helping us to understand the poem on its terms, and to appreciate its intricacy and subtlety, its grandeur and pathos, and its incomparable beauty."-- "Claremont Review of Books" (5/11/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"Green shows the wonderful things that can happen when Homeric rhythms are combined with a free-flowing and naturalistic English."-- "ARGO"

"By "preserving the strangeness" of Homer, [Peter Green] gives the reader the fullest possible access to the ancient mind, into Homer's distant universe of wine-faced seas, god-like men and bronze skies."--Kate Havard "The Washington Free Beacon" (6/7/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Readers will learn a great deal about the Iliad from Green's detailed introduction and from comprehensive synopses of each book. A list summarizing the roles of main characters (Achilles to Zeus) and an index of names will benefit new readers as well as pros. . . . Summing Up: Highly recommended."--R. Cormier "CHOICE" (9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Taken as a whole this is the best line-for-line translation of the poem I know."--Colin Burrow "London Review of Books" (6/18/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Translating Homer into English is almost a genre of its own. . . . Is there still a gap in the market? Peter Green's new translation shows that there is. . . . his particular merit lies in achieving a clarity and fluidity that carries the reader (or indeed the declaimer) forward. . . . a notable achievement."--Richard Jenkyns "TLS" (7/8/2015 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Peter Green is Dougherty Centennial Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin and Adjunct Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa. He is the author of both historical studies and translations of poetry, including The Poems of Catullus and Apollonios's The Argonautika, both by UC Press.