Reviews

The Illiad Of Homer by Homer, Alexander Pope

trisjdavila's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

wasn’t as into it as the odyssey at first, but it really grew on me since it’s not so centered on any one individual. it’s nice to get both sides of the trojan war. super interesting to track aphrodite & hera throughout this. much more perspective from multiple gods than in the odyssey. 

did i like it more than the odyssey? perhaps. i’ll figure it out on the next read. 

cfoley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bjorkster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Fantastic. Very old-fashioned, used adjectives and verbs become repetitive.

cpratreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I did not enjoy reading this book. It was such a slog. 

I am not a big fan of war focused narratives, so that part is on me. But the descriptions are simply too in-depth. I also would have an existential crisis if I lived in this book, as the Gods seem to always do what they want, except when they don't, so it doens't even make anything feel important. 

If you like lists, then boy do I have a story for you. The lists in this book are endless, and include: the name of every ship being sailed including a description and how many men are on board - the name of every person who dies ever in this war, how they die, and who they are related to - the names of everyone that participates in any sort of game, wager, race, etc.  A list lovers dream, truely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

8797999's review against another edition

3.0

A bit different to what I was expecting, I have read several books on the Trojan War in the past but never this, I did enjoy it but I prefer The Odyssey. I feel this one drags on a little and is a tad visceral, certainly far more bloody than The Odyssey.

That said I enjoyed it and can see why it i held with such esteem. I am happy to finally be able to say I have finished both of Homer's epic poems.

pnikib3's review against another edition

adventurous dark

4.0

100reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Need to reread several times to understand it.

ammfoley's review against another edition

5.0

i cried, like. three times. i dunno, maybe i’m just weak like that.

calyxconcision's review against another edition

4.0

Barring a few boat lists and listing of Nereids and who was the son of who, this was a very interesting read. It's hard to discern many themes from The Iliad since Homer was not its original author, he just wrote it down, as it was a poem that had been sung for many years since the days of Mycenaean Greece. It's also hard to analyse it in the form of a book, since it was a poem. Nevertheless, if I had to pick some, I'd say family, honour, and loyalty ─ as well as fate, destiny, and divine intervention playing a role in the lives of mortals. How much choice do we really have in a world that worships gods and their divine role in mortals' lives?

gorgeousgirl's review against another edition

took me sooo long, but i've triumphed finally! i appreciate the logic behind wilson's translation choices, i just don't think her execution fulfills her ideals. she chose to emulate the poetry of the original by using iambic pentameter, but i really couldn't keep up with the meter just reading on my own, it really bogged everything down. eventually, i just started reading it as sentences. the vocabulary chosen was pretty spare & dull, except in the rare places where she reproduces the multi-syllabic or "strange" words from the original greek. overall, it suffered for a lack of style or flourish. i think it could be a good entrypoint to get an understanding of the skeleton of the verse & story, i don't think it really manages to give the reader the riveting & lively experience of the ancient epic. take it w a grain of salt, i'm very far from being an expert of classics