Reviews - The Iliad | The StoryGraph

4.87k reviews for:

Truly taken aback by how much I enjoyed this. The bar was low and I thought this would be a slog. I’m not sure if it’s Wilson’s translations or just the sheer force of the underlying text, but I loved this.

I cried (actually cried) at Achilles’ pain over Patroclus’s death. Priam, Hecuba, and Andromache’s passages are also beautiful. The gods participating in the battlefield was always riveting to me.

Such a treasure to have this text exist. I know everyone’s read this in school / college but I’m glad I read it when I did. I’m sure I’ll come back to it.

Side note: Zeus was really nice to Athena. Unexpected
Side note 2: Parallels to Karbala
Side note 3: Obviously the women stuff not great but that was expected

celianoveltea's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rachel_mete88's review against another edition

3.0

I think it is very hard to rate a classic, especially an epic like the Iliad. However, all up I give it 3 stars for being a solid and interesting read, with long sections of fights and name listing that made it at times very tedious.

I really enjoyed the parallel stories of the humans and the gods. I knew the gods were a feature of the Iliad, but had no idea how much - their infighting and manipulations were next level!

I have read, listened to and watched many interpretations of Greek legends so hearing the source “truth” of events was fascinating. I was surprised at where the Iliad ended - I thought it went more into the final days of Troy, but no, it ends with Hectors death!

The presence of women as objects in the hands of men was very apparent and very sad. Even the sections from the perspective of Helen were generally her berating herself for being the worst person ever, and the other women were silently handed from one man to another (Breises) or only existed in the reflection of a man (the wives, the slaves).

Glad I read this, and I will at some point read the Odyssey.

djop's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Them Greeks can build walls incredibly quickly.
The Iliad gives an amazing insight into the mind of the ancient Greek. Sometimes the book feels quite long winded, other times action and other events wizz by.
Remembering all the names of the Trojans and Greek was a challenge. Thankfully this version aids greatly with this by using differing typography.

All in all a must read even though I bet Homer’s repetition of certain phrases hits different in it’s original poetry form