The Iliad

BOOK SUMMARY

When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017—revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was "fresh, unpretentious and lean" (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)—critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of Homer's other great epic—the most revered war poem of all time.

The Iliad roars with the clamor of arms, the bellowing boasts of victors, the fury and grief of loss, and the anguished cries of dying men. It sings, too, of the sublime magnitude of the world—the fierce beauty of nature and the gods' grand schemes beyond the ken of mortals. In Wilson's hands, this thrilling, magical, and often horrifying tale now gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes, in crisp but resonant language that evokes the poem's deep pathos and reveals palpably real, even "complicated," characters—both human and divine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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. Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance and early modern studies, a MacArthur Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. In addition to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, she has also published translations of Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. She lives in Philadelphia.

PRAISE

"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

"Wilson's admirers hoped that her second Homeric translation would be as great an achievement as the first. What they might not have expected is that it would be better.… Emily Wilson has not only produced fresh and limpid new translations of two foundational ancient poems. She has also given a new generation of readers the tools to approach Homer, with comfort and confidence, for the very first time. For those who knew the poems already, she lets Homer speak to them in a new voice." —Johanna Hanink, Slate

"Wilson's deep love for and understanding of the Iliad—by her own admission, the greater of her Homeric loves—shine through every page of this superb translation. The completion of her verse Homer amounts to nothing less than the renewal of an English poetic tradition." —Daniel Walden, Bulwark

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Paperback
848 pages
Poetry
8.3 in H | 5.6 in W | 1.5 in T | 1.9 lb