At the end of each book’s introduction Jones also indicates the main sources for the commentary and related readings.

This timeless poem vivdly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods battling amidst devastation and destruction. It is also worth noting that each introduction begins by reminding the readers of the preceding stages of the narration, so that they cannot lose their way. com/product/index/Iliad-P-B-Trans-Hammond-Penguin-Classic 9780140444445 Iliad P/B (Trans Hammond) Penguin Classic http://www.

Homer recorded the accrued legends and his story is the tragic tale of civilization,greed and crued deeds. Jones finally provides information about the main secondary literature that should be used for both the general introduction to Homer and the book-by-book analysis. To simply touch on the issue, it is just Hector’s words that imply something different from what Jones argues. Jones also never introduces the concept of geras, which is actually what provokes the quarrel (see E. Later in the commentary he does give some details about both food and blood, but there is something wrong.

First of all, some specific connections between archaeological evidence and poetry cannot be completely neglected.I had enjoyed Fitzgerald's verse translation of The Aenied as a result of which I bought this verse translation of the Iliad. The story of the Iliad centers on the critical events in the last year of the Trojan War, which lead to Achilles's killing of Hektor and determine the fate of Troy. Apollo came against him hidden in thick mist, andstood behind him, and struck his back and broadshoulders with the flat of his hand, so that hiseyes spun round. Rieu's translation of `The Odyssey' was actually the very first Penguin Classics book and so, from a historical perspective, it should come as no surprise that that and his `Iliad' are considered "classics" in of themselves.

Not to deny the well known importance of the ‘authority’ issue, 10 the impression is that of an one-sided explanation. Some of the translation’s notes are acute, explained in detail, and show an effort to avoid too modern and anachronistic interpretation. A question ritually asked in literary circles is, "Which do you like better, The ILLIAD or The ODYSSEY?The narrative runs, the dialogue speaks, the military action is clear, and the repetitive epithets become useful text rather than exotic relics. Regarding the second statement, it is enough to consult any etymological dictionary or LSJ to see that ἀμβροσία is linked to βροτός and can mean nothing but ‘immortality / no-mortal (thing)’. Eg: there is this particular scene where Andromache begs her husband Hector to come back alive from the war, beging that since she lost all of her family, Hector was a husband, father, brother, sister and mother to her, all of it. Beside the fact that prior to this the reader is never told about the special food and drink of the gods, 13 to say that the Greek word brotos means ‘mortal’ and ‘blood’ is misleading, and to say that ambrosia means ‘not-mortal, immortal’ or ‘no-blood’ is incorrect.

The same occurs later, when talking about the repeated patterns of common scenes and mentioning some of them (pp. Whatever the truth of their origin, the two stories, developed around three thousand years ago, may well still be read in three thousand years' time. He studied at Berkeley and Harvard and taught for 34 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is Bascom-Halls Professor of Classics Emeritus. But don't read the Fagles after Pope: it'll look distinctly second-rate, like a textbook provisionally entitled What Is Wrong With Poetry Now. Both works attributed to Homer – the Iliad and the Odyssey – are over ten thousand lines long in the original.But, at the expense of lively and flowing language, we now have "accessible", but extremely dull, prose. It is noteworthy how Jones illustrates the metrical and formulas’ system by giving some practical examples (pp. There are also clarifying comments on the situation of the single personage in a given stage of the narration, sometimes enriched by exquisite quotations (see, e. An ancient Greek epic which underpins the whole of western literature, Homer's The Iliad is a timeless evocation of the struggle to retain a sense of honour and virtue amidst the horrors of war. Or giving examples like comparing the veracity of a hero's attack to that of a lion attacking a herd of sheep.