It is a good story, well-told, that bears many lessons for yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is a book that is the height of epic poetry. If one is to read Homer, and I think one should, turn to the Odyssey, especially Fagles’s translation of it. That takes off the rose-colored glasses and adds chop to the wine dark seas. If one wants to read a great war story, turn to Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. War is seen as a means to an end, and that end is revenge or greed. Death is vicious, but quick horrible, yet honorable driven by gods, not chosen by men. In this short section, humanity wells to the top, in the actions of Priam and partially with Achilles.Īs for the Iliad being the greatest war story, the depiction of battles have been sanitized and glorified. The highlight of the story is the final chapter, where King Priam comes to the Greek camp to petition Achilles for the body of the King’s son, Hector. The book opens with “Rage– Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles…” However, after a brief display of his hubris and childish behavior, we barely see him in the next 16 chapters. This epic could have been 1/4 the size, perhaps less. The intervening books of slaughter and cataloging, while attempting to show the scale and scope of the Trojan battle, fail to keep me engaged. Greatest story? It is slow and plodding, even though it starts crisply and ends wisely.

I do protest that and let me approach that in two parts. The back cover of Fagles’s translation bills it as the world’s greatest war story. Even with the mastery of prose and poetry that Fagles brings, I don’t believe this work can be saved. His stilted language made a difficult book almost impenetrable. During college, I twice read Robert Fitzgerald’s translation. Does not include sales tax.Having just finished reading Robert Fagles’s translation of the Iliad, I remember why I’ve only read it twice before. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday Evenings at 7:30 pm Previews Wednesday 7/14 & Thursday 7/15 at 7:30pm In this vibrant retelling, the Trojan War and the present day are set side by side as the excitement of an ancient tale is catapulted into an intimate, urgent, and spellbinding story for today. The eternal, enchanting power of storytelling comes to life in this gripping adaptation of Homer’s classic. A solitary storyteller on a bare stage throws us right into the midst of conflict where heroes and countries clash in a quest for power and glory. Based on Homer's The Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles

The iliad translated by robert fagles