Iliad

Description: "Wilson's Iliad is clear and brisk, its iambic pentameter a zone of enchantment." --Ange Mlinko, London Review of Books

The greatest literary landmark of antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our time.

Brief description: HOMER's identity is shrouded in mystery. Most scholars agree that an epic poet named Homer likely existed anywhere between 900 to 700 B.C.E. Legend, originating in antiquity, says that Homer was a blind bard from Ionia, but no account of Homer's life can be verified. The Iliad and The Odyssey, the two epic poems attributed to Homer, which take place during the Trojan War and its aftermath, were derived from the oral storytelling tradition. Their method of composition--either by a single author or several bards working in tandem--remains unknown. The Homeric Poems are among the most significant narratives in the Greek and Western literary canon.

Review Quotes: Wilson's style is like the proverbial mountain stream--clean and clear, and bubbling along at pace.... Wilson's strong authorial voice and open and accessible style...make this volume the definitive Iliad for our times. Readable, relevant and from the heart, this is the Iliad we have all been waiting for, whether we knew it or not.--Naoíse Mac Sweeney "Washington Post"