Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry

Rating:
Summary: An innovative and engaging approach to Homer
Review: I read the first edition of this book in the early 80s when I was in college, and I have to say that few books stimulated my thought about Greek literature and language as well as this book did. Nagy's thesis is interesting and contoversial (there was quite a bit of debate about it in successive issues of the NY Review of Books), and while I don't wish to give a synopsis of his main points without having read the book in such a long time, I can assure you that his intellectual rigour and clear, beautiful writing will, at the least, help you to new perspectives on the Iliad and the Odyssey. I'm buying myself a new copy right now!