The Iliad

Description

The story centres on the critical events in four days of the 10th and final year of the war between the Greeks and Trojans. It describes how the quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilleus sets in motion a tragic sequence of events, which leads to Achilleus' killing of Hektor and determines the ultimate fate of Troy. But Homer's theme is not simply war or heroism. With compassion and humanity he presents a universal and tragic view of the world, of human life lived under the shadow of suffering and death, set against a vast and largely unpitying divine background.

The Greeks attributed both the Iliad and the Odyssey to a single poet whom they named Homer. Nothing is known of his life, though the main ancient tradition made him a native of the island of Chios in east Aegean. His date too is uncertain- most modern scholars place the composition of the Iliad in the second half of the eighth century BC. Martin Hammond has taught in England and in Greece. He has also translated the Odyssey. He is now Headmaster of Tonbridge School

Much the best modern prose translation of the Iliad -- Robin Lane Fox * Financial Times * This new prose translation of the Iliad is outstandingly good . . . to read it is to be gripped by it * Classical Review * Superbly direct and eloquent . . . by its sensitivity, fluency, and flexibility, it will win a permanent place on the shelves of Homer-lovers -- Martin Fagg * Times Educational Supplement * Martin Hammond's new version is the best and most accurate there has ever been, as smooth as cream but as clear as water . . . Hammond's Iliad deserves to become a standard book -- Peter Levi * Independent * Surely the best Iliad in quite a few decades * Greece & Rome Journal * Here is a fine Iliad for our times, to be read with great pleasure -- Philip Howard * The Times *