The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander
Homer Homer
With her virtuoso translation, classicist and bestselling author Caroline Alexander brings to life Homer’s timeless epic of the Trojan War Composed around 730 B.C., Homer’s Iliad recounts the events of a few momentous weeks in the protracted ten-year war between the invading Achaeans, or Greeks, and the Trojans in their besieged city of Ilion. From the explosive confrontation between Achilles, the greatest warrior at Troy, and Agamemnon, the inept leader of the Greeks, through to its tragic conclusion, The Iliad explores the abiding, blighting facts of war. Soldier and civilian, victor and vanquished, hero and coward, men, women, young, old—The Iliad evokes in poignant, searing detail the fate of every life ravaged by the Trojan War. And, as told by Homer, this ancient tale of a particular Bronze Age conflict becomes a sublime and sweeping evocation of the destruction of war throughout the ages. Carved close to the original Greek, acclaimed classicist Caroline Alexander’s new translation is swift and lean, with the driving cadence of its source—a translation epic in scale and yet devastating in its precision and power.
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Where to begin… The Iliad is one of the oldest works in the western literature. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it depends largely on why you want to read it. If you go into the epic poem wanting to see an enthralling plot and gripping writing, I’m not sure how you’ll feel.
What I think you will find in The Iliad, and what was most interesting to me, is the humanity and the cultural artifacts embedded within. Learning about Greek mythology, the way Fate, Destiny and the gods at Olympus often cruelly interfere with the mortals. Seeing perceptions of honor and glory, and seeing how these have changed for us now. When jokes and silliness lands, it makes it so much funnier, thousands of years since they’ve been delivered and it still resonates.
The epic focuses on the Trojan war, but you don’t actually get a whole picture of the war. You get a story about Achilles’ anger and stubbornness, its unhappy fruit, and what’s left after the fire’s burned out. It’s a tragedy and he largely stars. You also get to see how much this text has been influential in other stories, even just in names.
I would only really recommend The Iliad if you are keenly interested in Greek mythology or classical literature. Personally (and don’t hate me), I enjoyed this epic of Achilles more than than Song of Achilles. If you are looking for a more modern and loose retelling of this epic, read The Song of Achilles.
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