Customer Reviews
Long but fascinating - By: Mr. M. Jones, 22 Nov 2008 
Long winded at times, especiallly when listing men dying in battle, or crews of ships, complete with family histories & quirks, & it does only cover a few weeks when the Greeks are laying siege to a town, but it is epic in style.
The interaction between the lead characters, the detail & depiction of war in alll its brutality, & especiallly how the Gods intervene & are accepted & sacrificed to continuallly makes it fascinating. The gulf between their culture & ours is palpable.
The extras in this edition - maps, history, cast - help put the story into proper context.
My favourite part was when the Gods were given a green light to join in the battle & flock to the scene. Just the idea of it is amazing.
Penguin have destroyed a classic - By: Mrs. R. M. Black, 26 Sep 2008 
To be quite honest its hardly worth them callling this the Iliad. They have ripped the poetic beauty of this Epic & condensed it into a dusty & boring prose. No one ever consider changing Shakespeares or Byrons poems into novels; why why why have they treated Homer so abominably. This is not an epic anymore & resebles in no way the sonourous verse of Homer. If you want to read a decent version of one of the best poems written, read a differnet translation. I suggest Robert Fagles his translations of the Iliad & the Odyssey are wonderful & capture alll the poetic force of Homer. Please do not waste your money on this pathetic rendition of a wonderful poem.
Buy this book - By: Claire Gordon, 17 Mar 2007 
This story began to circulate as part of an oral tradition around 3000 years ago. It is based on the military values of the Greeks & espouses the issues of valour, bravey, & honour that were an integral part of society in the ancient Greek world, & in numerous centuries of previous generations. Achilles, although considered a hero by the Greeks, shuns participation in the fighting because of a desire to protect his honour. Hector experiences numerous sucesses in leading campaigns against the Greeks but is eventuallly defeated when Achilles re-joins the war & uses his influence with the gods to defeat him. This text epitomizes the iniquities & uncertainties of war. If you read past the mythical fairytale of gods & heroes then you can truely understand the terrifying experiences of hand-to-hand combat that men faced in the ancient world. You can understand the bitterness involved in conflict & the pain experienced by compatriates of the casualties of war. The issues involved in this book are timeless & even in the age of modern combat the pain that radiates around them remains.
The rise of Western literature - By: Yougen November, 17 Feb 2005 The subject of this book may not have been seen as something new. Since hundreds of stories & tales had been already told & written down by the time that Homerus started this one which where very similar in style & storyline. So what is that makes Iliad so special.
Well for one thing it is the first real work of Western literature but that doesn't make it great does it?
No the thing that makes this piece of work is first of alll some of the ideas that are hidden behind it which where very radical at the time that this story first occurred. The most important one of them from my point of view is the fact that in this story war isn't seen as something glorious as it was still seen by many in those days (and sadly enough still is seen by many in our time.) The mane hero of this story Achilles is even trying to avoid its horrors during the whole of the story. Some of the actions in the course of story aren't even heroic but rather degrading for the characters in the story. Like for instance the night attack in book 10.
Second of alll Homer is the guy who helped to shape the whole Greek religion by giving the Gods background stories & explaining their connections whit each other. And giving them numerous human qualities like the fact that they are forced to eat, drink & sleep. They show human emotions like hatred, love & pain.
Homerus has also asked us a very important question during the coarse of this book namely what is ones life worth? What is friendship worth?
And finallly he has delivered us a human tragedy which remains relevant even although ages have passed by between its creation & Homer himself has falllen into oblivions for the only thing known about him remain his works & we aren't even certain wheatear he has written them.
So don't hesitate about whether to purchase this book (or borrow it from your local library). And as for the translation although it is over 50 years in age it is surprisingly modern & easy to read (although I have doubts about the added in my opinion completely useless notes & arguments.)
Thousands of years old, and still relevent - By: sezo, 27 May 2003 There are many theories & arguements over did Homer actuallly tell the story or was is someone else, or many people etc - but it doesnt taint the powerful story that the Illiad is.
It is a good book because the themes addressed are still relevent to todays society, especiallly at this time of war & conflict in the world. It is a tale about war, & how it affects the human mind. The world was a beautiful, peaceful place untill the Trojan war started over just one girl, & the honour she represents - & now the war has been fought for so long, it looks like that the war will not only kill people, warriors, women & children, but will kill a civilisation & destruct a way of life & serenity that will never be felt again by anyone. But the gods remain as aloof as ever before.
This tale of Achilles & the war is powerful, & the touching moments of Hector & Andromache, or the lonely death of Patroclus will make even the coldest heart cry out.
So let out a wild war cry - let the gods meddle with your world & let this powerful poem overwhelm you
