The Iliad is the first and the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilization - an epic poem without rival in the literature of the world, and the cornerstone of Western culture.
The story of the Iliad centres on the critical events in the last year of the Trojan War, which lead to Achilleus' killing of Hektor and determine the 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 Iliad is the first of the great tragedies.
‘Martin Hammond’s modern prose version is the best and most accurate there has ever been’
Peter Levi, Independent
‘A fine Iliad for our times’
Philip Howard, The Times
The Iliad
Foreword
Introduction
Introduction to the 1950 Edition
Notes on this Revision
The Main Characters
Further Reading
Maps:
1. A reconstruction of Homer's imagined battlefields
2. The Troad
3. Trojan places and contingents
4. Homeric Greece
5. Greek contingents at Troy
Preliminaries
The Iliad
1. Plague and Wrath
2. A Dream, a Testing and the Catalogue of Ships
3. A Duel and a Trojan View of the Greeks
4. The Oath is Broken and Battle Joined
5. Diomedes' Heroics
6. Hector and Andromache
7. Ajax Fights Hector
8. Hector Triumphant
9. The Embassy to Achilles
10. Diomedes and Odysseus: The Night Attack
11. Achilles Takes Notice
12. Hector Storms the Wall
13. The Battle at the Ships
14. Zeus Outmanoeuvred
15. The Greeks at Bay
16. The Death of Patroclus
17. The Struggle Over Patroclus
18. Achilles' Decision
19. The Feud Ends
20. Achilles on the Rampage
21. Achilles Fights the River
22. The Death of Hector
23. The Funeral and the Games
24. Priam and Achilles
Appendices
1. A Brief Glossary
2. Ommitted Fathers' Names
Index
