Rating: 
Summary: Something in excess.....
Review: Admittedly, the Fagles translation of The Iliad is not the version I am reviewing. Mine was a prose translation, by Samuel Butler, of 'The Way of All Flesh' fame.....and the words inscribed in the Temple of Apollo, 'Nothing in Excess' came to mind as I read, as there is something in excess, and not a good something...Having read the Odyssey in prose form, translated by E.V. Rieu, I had high hopes for what is described as the 'greatest war story ever told'.... With a more than impressive cast of characters to work with; Achilles, Paris, Hector, Helen of Troy, etc, etc, etc,....this story (and perhaps it is the translation) is really lacking when compared to The Odyssey in story content. Much of the book is used to name soldier after soldier who dies, along with his patronimic lineage...and how he was killed; be it sword, spear, rock, etc. The story that inspires this book, the love of Paris and his affair with Helen, the 'face that launched a thousand ships' is a story ripe with potential...for both a good war story, a good love story, and a fascinating look at Ancient Greek war strategy, and the taking and sacking of a powerful city like Troy. In this incarnation, it doesn't live up to that potential, which was greatly disappointing. The story read, to me, as a Classical equivalent to the United States' Vietnam War Memorial, listing name after name of slain soldiers and M.I.A.'s....so much so that the 'main characters' of the story are grievously overlooked, and it is near impossible to keep track of which side is winning, with name after name hurled at you. The saving grace, for me, of this book is really the last several chapters...where the grief of Achilles for his slain lover, Patroclus, is chronicled. While never blatant in its descriptiveness, the love, admiration, and longing that Achilles held for Patroclus is MORE than evident here, even if Brad Pitt couldn't muster the bravery to play it on screen in his ho-hum turn as Achilles. Also entertaining is the impish interference of the Gods from time to time to favor one side or another...which was also 'scrubbed' from the film version, as it, according to Pitt, would not 'play well' with an audience. I guess after reading the Odyssey, I anticipated a superior story here, and was disappointed with what I found. Though the subject matter is fascinating...and the recent Hollywood bastardization is appallingly NON-authentic, having read the story, I walked away from this book feeling let down.
Rating: 
Summary: A Most Well Prepared Translation of Homers Epic.
Review: For nearly three thousand years the poems of Homer have thrilled listeners of every culture and epoch. Allusions to The Iliad and The Odyssey are so pervasive in our western culture that they are almost required reading for anyone who wishes to study western literature.
Briefly, The Iliad is the story of the ten year long Trojan War, which climaxes with the destruction of the city of Troy by the Greeks through the deception of the Trojan Horse. Filled with tales of the heroes and gods of ancient Greece, Homer's poems are noted for the masterful use of wonderfully illustrative similes and metaphors, which become all the more wonderful with the understanding that Homer is believed to have been blind!
Translations of Homer which try to adhere to the original poetic structure and be as literal as possible are immensely difficult to read by all but the most focused scholars. Other translations have completley deviated from any resemblance of poetry in an effort to be more accessible to the average reader. Here Mr. Fagles has achieved a translation which is not only easy to read and understand, but which retains the poetic lyricism of the original.
Homer's works should be on the bookshelf of anyone who is interested in the classics, and with this translation you don't have to be a University Professor to appreciate them.
Rating:
Summary: The Iliad of Homer in it's best Incarnation
Review: Have you ever wanted to go back in time, to an era where powerful gods mingled with humans and great wars were fought, to an era of mythology? Well, welcome to The Iliad, the classic tale of the Trojan War. This ancient story tells us of forty-one of the most brutal days of the great Trojan War, the great war fought to retrieve Helen, the former wife of the Spartan king. It tells us of the rage of Achilles, the champion fighter of the Greeks, when the all-powerful Agamemnon does him a wrong. All throughout this epic poem, the flowing verse creates a wonderful, musical experience that's a joy to read. There is wonderful depth of character and use of emotions everywhere in this exquisite book, allowing you to know the magnificent, rich characters inside and out. Descriptions are captivating and concise, resulting in extraordinarily clear mental images of what's happening. The story itself is so well crafted that it is almost believable.
I would highly recommend this absolutely fantastic book to anyone and everyone. The reading is very easy, and very rhythmic, so nearly anyone will be able to read it. The Iliad is definitely one the best books I have ever read and it deserves to be so for you.
Karl Griggs
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Has he really done the impossible?
Review: History shows us that "standard" translations are really translations for the time. As good as Pope's translation of the Iliad is - and it's good enough to stand on its own as an English poem - it definitely smacks of its time, particularly in how it moves and in its concern for rhetorical balance. Fagles has at least given me the Iliad of my own time. I read it the first time with part of me saying, "This is *so* good, can it last?" I have no idea. What impresses me so much is that it is undoubtedly wonderful poetry - poetry that makes you marvel at word choice and rhetorical construction - and yet it moves with the speed of an adventure novel. In other words, it exemplifies (as no other translation has for me) what scholars have been telling us about Homer for centuries. I don't understand classical Greek. I can't read Homer in the original, but I believe Fagles has given me something very, very close indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected...
Review: I enrolled in a class on Ancient Greece and was a bit shocked when a week before the class started I got an email from my professor simply stating "Read the Iliad for January 30th. Thought I'd give you guys a head start." I questioned my wisdom in signing up for the class, but amid a busy schedule I was easily able to finish the book in time. In fact, it was at the expense of other reading I should have been doing.
The book was not long and boring, but alive and interesting. I'm not sure if I should credit Fagles translation or Homer himself for making it fairly easy to understand for someone not at all versed in Ancient Greek literature. The compelling story of the Rage of Achilles is not only exciting, it is touching. The final three chapters are perhaps some of the finest found anywhere.
I only dock it one star because the listing of specific people's life stories only to be killed off and never heard from again becomes a bit tedious. This may have been essential to Homer, and it adds a human element to the usually anonymous soldiers, but at 1 am in the library it inspires frustration for the reader. At a certain point I no longer cared about another one of Hector's unfortunate drivers.
All in all, a very good story that invites excitement and reflection. It led to a vigorous class discussion which makes it a worthwhile book. I didn't just "get through" The Iliad, I experienced it!
Rating:
Summary: Fagles Does It Again
Review: I have read several versions of the Iliad (both poetic and prose) and this version translated by Robert Fagles is the best I've read. Fagles has such an ability to translate the classics (as he has done with the Odyssey and the Theban Plays of Sophocles) so that they are readable to the modern English reader while still maintaining the lyricism of poetry. I'm also a sucker for introductions, glossaries, and translation notes and this edition has excellent versions of all three. While I would have liked even more notes to explain some of the myth references within the Iliad, the ones that are there are very explanatory. Bernard Knox (who also wrote the Notes) delivers a very erudite introduction that puts the "rage of Achilles" into context and gives an enlightening view of the humanity of the Gods who appear within. Highly recommended to those who want to get in touch with their Ancient Greek side.
Rating:
Summary: A Translation To Read Out Loud
Review: I own two copies of The Iliad. I own the Lattimore translation for study, and the Fagles translation for love of the story. Translating ancient Greek is tough work. The author must constantly fight the battle to match the *meaning* of the original and the *feel* of the original in a language built for a very different culture and time. Lattimore was invaluable when I was translating passages myself for college. He comes closest to writing ancient Greek in clear English. But when I want to lose myself in the story and action and feel myself swept away by the rage of Achilles, I reach for Fagles. He, more than any other translator I have read, carries the pace and force of the original Homeric Greek in an English that breathes life into the work without calling attention to itself.
Rating:
Summary: Blood, guts & trash talking--ancient Greek-style
Review: I recently read Homer's epic poem "The Iliad" for the first time. There are three reasons why I did: #1: I saw the movie "Troy" (which was entertaining; not great, but entertaining) and the story of the Trojan War piqued my interest. Ancient Greek scholars, please fight your gagging reflexes! #2: A copy of "The Iliad" ALWAYS looks good on one's bookshelf. #3: I can appear smarter than I really am just by saying "I've read 'The Iliad!'" Any moron can read "The Odyssey" (I know that from experience; I skimmed through it my freshman year of high school), but "The Iliad" always seemed darker and more challenging to me. Anyhoo, my pretensions aside, "The Iliad" truly is an engrossing story set during the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of the city of Troy. To quickly sum up the story for the initiated and yet not ruin the story for the uninitiated, "The Iliad" concerns the rage of the great, yet self-absorbed Greek warrior Achilles and how his refusal to fight for the equally self-absorbed King Agamemnon leads to the ruin of many, all the while the gods pick sides and fight viciously among themselves. The battlescenes are exciting and unbelieveably gory: limbs get hacked off, entrails spill out onto the ground, eyeballs pop out in different directions and brains splatter everywhere. If that isn't enough, the amount of trash-talking done by these ancient warriors makes today's NFL players seem tame by comparison. "The Iliad" is a tragic tale, but it is an unrelentingly MACHO tragic tale. Not surprising for a war story, I guess. I'm sure Oliver Stone has a copy of this poem stashed away somewhere. It should be noted that there are several different English translations of Homer's epic floating around the marketplace. I chose Robert Fagles' 1990 translation because it was the quickest and most understandable read, especially to a modern English-speaking audience. From what I've heard, Richard Lattimore's translation is more poetic, but is harder to get through. Bernard Knox's introduction is worthwhile reading, as it explains the history behind the poem, as well as giving a literary analysis of its heroes (namely, Achilles and Hector). Now that I've read "The Iliad", I feel "ever so smart" as Martin Prince would say on "The Simpsons". Now, I just hope the mean kids don't beat me up on the way to school.
Rating:
Summary: Who has not read and loved this great classic?
Review: In various translations there are few literate people who have not read this classic at least once. Homer was a poet who lived in the ninth century B.C. and he is responsible for immortalizing a number of now famous historical characters in his legacy of poetry. The Iliad is his most famous work. The poem only covers a three day period in the Trojan war, but we get the full story of Achilles battle with King Agamemnon., but the characters that Homer introduces in conjunction with this fight are unforgettable. We also get a clear introduction to the Grecian gods that were worshipped in these days. (ie: Zeus, Athena, etc.) Truly amazing battle scenes, and a clear picture of the political upheavals that caused this great war where so many died. A person who loves reading should not miss this epic poem.
Rating:
Summary: Achilles' Last Stand -- Better Than Ever
Review: Let's face it -- there is not much one can say about the substance of "The Iliad", Homer's epic detailing the last period of the siege of Troy. Everyone should read this seminal tale of war, courage and obstinancy, regardless of the translation you choose.
Which brings us to what we can critique: the translation. Feagles has done a truly remarkable job here and something may not have been accomplished before -- he makes "The Iliad" accessible. Feagles' version is a little darker, a little grittier, and a little more "realistic" than other translations. Whereas earlier translations make the reader feel as if he or she is watching a grand pageant from a nearby hilltop, Feagles invites the reader to join in the action. It makes "The Iliad" a much more fun and interesting read. I'm sure that Classicists could spend entire Ph.D. dissertations arguing about how Feagles said "THIS helmet" when it should have read "THAT helmet" or whether Achilles' cloak was truly crimson versus scarlet. What should matter is that Feagles has produced a more readable version of "The Iliad", and one that can be enjoyed by more readers.
I'm not a linguist, a classics professor, or a literary critic. I just love this story and I've read it about 15 times, several different translations. So if you're looking to read "The Iliad" just once and really understand it, this is your version and Feagles is your author.
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