Ancient & Classical, Epic, Epic poetry, Greek. Greek poetry 

Anger be now your song, immortal one,Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous, that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter lossand crowded brave souls into the undergloom, leaving so many dead men-carrionfor dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.-Lines 1-6Since it was first published more than twenty-five years ago, Robert Fitzgerald's prizewinning translation of Homer's battle epic has become a classic in its own right: a standard against which all other versions of The Iliad are compared. Fitzgerald's work is accessible, ironic, faithful, written in a swift vernacular blank verse that "makes Homer live as never before" (Library Journal). This edition includes a new foreword by Andrew Ford. - from Amzon



The centuries old epic about the wrath of Achilles is rendered into modern English verse by a renowned translator and accompanied by an introduction that reassesses the identity of Homer. In Robert Fagles' beautifully rendered text, the Iliad overwhelms us afresh. The huge themes godlike, yet utterly human of savagery and calculation, of destiny defied, of triumph and grief compel our own humanity. Time after time, one pauses and re-reads before continuing. Fagles' voice is always that of a poet and scholar of our own age as he conveys the power of Homer. Robert Fagles and Bernard Knox are to be congratulated and praised on this admirable work.





Introduction: Spelling and pronunciation of Homeric names --

Maps --

Homeric geography: Mainland Greece --

Homeric geography: Peloponnese --

Homeric geography: Aegean and Asia minor --

Inset: Troy and vicinity --

Homer: Iliad --

Rage of Achilles --

Great gathering of Armies --

Helen reviews the champions --

Truce erupts in war --

Diomedes fights the gods --

Hector returns to Troy --

Ajax duels with Hector --

Tide of battle turns --

Embassy of Achilles --

Marauding through the night --

Agamemnon's day of glory --

Trojans storm the rampart --

Battling for the ships --

Hera outflanks Zeus --

Achaean Armies the bay --

Patroclus fights and dies --

Menelaus' finest hour --

Shield of Achilles --

Champion arms for battle --

Olympian gods in arms --

Achilles fights the river --

Death of Hector --

Funeral games for Patroclus --

Achilles and Priam --

Notes: Genealogy of the royal house of Troy --

Textual Variants from the Oxford classical text --

Notes on the translation --

Suggestions for further reading --

Pronouncing glossary.