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adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, War
adventurous
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overall, I did enjoy this story, and I will accredit that to the translator. As a lover of the Classical world, it's obvious I read the Iliad, following my reading of the Odyssey and Metamorphoses last year (both in translation). Whilst this has not overtaken Metamorphoses as my favourite of the epics, it was still great.
The translation was witty and funny which helped balance the gritty violence of the war ongoing in the poem. Of course there are sectios which are just lists of names, but in this story, I needed the reminders of who was who because there was such a large amount of characters. I loved the dialoue in this, the humour was great and it captured the emotions of characters so well.
What confused me about this is it doesn't tell the story of the whole Trojan War. It stops after Hector's death which confused me because, whilst this is a crucial emotional moment, the war continued after this and the story feels unfinished. It does feel like an abrupt end which is confusing after you have read hundreds of pages of action. Despite it consisting almost entirely of battle scenes, it doesn't feel too repetitive and the different points of view help keep the story moving and interesting.
The translation was witty and funny which helped balance the gritty violence of the war ongoing in the poem. Of course there are sectios which are just lists of names, but in this story, I needed the reminders of who was who because there was such a large amount of characters. I loved the dialoue in this, the humour was great and it captured the emotions of characters so well.
What confused me about this is it doesn't tell the story of the whole Trojan War.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Blood
Minor: Animal death, Rape, Slavery
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book made me laugh a lot there’s such funny things everyone says like they’ll just pause and monologue in battle and make such disrespectful jokes it’s super funny. Quite interesting read but sometimes it gets monotonous
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was not a book I ever really expected to read, but Emily Wilson's translation was so engaging and accessible that I surprisingly really enjoyed it. I love Wilson's whole premise that an English translation of Ancient Greek should be as readable to modern readers as the original would have been for ancient Greeks.
This is nothing to do with Wilson's translation, but I was really surprised that the end came without Achilles' death, considering that that was the explicitly stated conclusion to his character arc. It certainly doesn't function as anything like a modern story arc; unlike the Odyssey, there is basically no conclusion to the story, except for Hector's funeral. The war isn't over, Achilles isn't dead, and we as readers have no sense of how that will occur.
Very fun to wrap it up on the last day of the year, and now on to Wilson's Odyssey!
This is nothing to do with Wilson's translation, but I was really surprised that the end came without Achilles' death, considering that that was the explicitly stated conclusion to his character arc. It certainly doesn't function as anything like a modern story arc; unlike the Odyssey, there is basically no conclusion to the story, except for Hector's funeral. The war isn't over, Achilles isn't dead, and we as readers have no sense of how that will occur.
Very fun to wrap it up on the last day of the year, and now on to Wilson's Odyssey!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
challenging
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i would carve up your flesh and eat it raw,
for the abominations you have done me."
"my friend patroclus, whom i loved, is dead.
i loved him more than any other comrade.
i loved him like my head, my life, myself.
i love him, killed him."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, War
adventurous
challenging
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I fucking love the iliad which is my nerdiest opinon ever but I genuinely love it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, War
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was honestly probably a problem of translation. Everything felt quite literal, like the excitment of the plot had been sacrificed for accuracy. I can't read ancient greek, though, so maybe it's just like that. Basically, it was a case of good ideas/content, kinda boring read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The scene with Andromache and her son had me fighting for my life. Also who doesn’t love some Patroclus and Achilles love?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War