The Iliad

The rage sing, O goddess, of Achilles, the son of Peleus, the destructive anger that brought ten-thousand pains to the Achaeans and sent many brave souls of fighting men to the house of Hades and made their bodies a feast for dogs and all kinds of birds. For such was the will of Zeus. Thus begins one of the oldest and most important works in Western literature. First recorded in the eighth century BC, Homer's Iliad has captivated readers ever since, and its raw and evocative depiction...
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The rage sing, O goddess, of Achilles, the son of Peleus, the destructive anger that brought ten-thousand pains to the Achaeans and sent many brave souls of fighting men to the house of Hades and made their bodies a feast for dogs and all kinds of birds. For such was the will of Zeus. Thus begins one of the oldest and most important works in Western literature. First recorded in the eighth century BC, Homer's Iliad has captivated readers ever since, and its raw and evocative depiction of warfare is as poignant today as it was in Archaic Greece. It is a song about a war fought long ago, whose themes -- anger, glory, honor, hate, love, death, terror, violence, and forgiveness -- remain timeless. In this new translation, distinguished Homerist Barry B. Powell provides an original rendition of the epic that is graceful, lucid, and energetic. Powell's tight and balanced rhythms evoke a continuous "stream of sound," approximating Homer's Greek better than any previous English translation. This is an Iliad at its simplest and most direct, though firmly attuned to its astonishing range and complexity. The translator's accompanying introduction masterfully captures the historical authority of the Iliad as a touchstone of Western culture. Synthesizing a lifetime of inquiry and original scholarship, Powell convincingly shows how the invention of the Greek alphabet made Homer the most studied of ancient poets and placed the Iliad at the core of Western civilization. Enriched with informative footnotes, illustrations from classical artwork, maps, a Homeric timeline, and a glossary, this new Iliad is sure to become the definitive translation.