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A review by matthewb
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey by Homer
4.0
Not being a Classics scholar, there is little I can say to add to the eminence Homer's epics hold among the canon of great literature.
I am glad I finally got around to reading it, and listening to it as an Audiobook made it much easier to finish. I enjoyed W. D. Rouse's translation, but the best thing about this version was Anthony Heald's performance. He excellently captured the variety of characters throughout the stories and conveyed the ferociousness and tenderness of the events really well.
One thing I did not know before embarking on reading these was that the Odyssey is not the immediate sequel of the Iliad. Odysseus' first appearance in the Odyssey is seven years after the end of the Battle of Troy. The end of the Trojan War is not recorded in the Iliad, but in other sources like the Aeneid. Some of the events are referenced in the Odyssey, though. I would recommend reading the Wikipedia article on the Trojan War in conjunction with the Iliad. There is so much that happened both before and after the events in the Iliad.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. I found the emphasis on strength and courage and lack of mercy shown very illustrative of the ancient culture. Also interesting was the dynamics of the primitive Greek theology, with the gods resembling superhumans with magic powers.
I am glad I finally got around to reading it, and listening to it as an Audiobook made it much easier to finish. I enjoyed W. D. Rouse's translation, but the best thing about this version was Anthony Heald's performance. He excellently captured the variety of characters throughout the stories and conveyed the ferociousness and tenderness of the events really well.
One thing I did not know before embarking on reading these was that the Odyssey is not the immediate sequel of the Iliad. Odysseus' first appearance in the Odyssey is seven years after the end of the Battle of Troy. The end of the Trojan War is not recorded in the Iliad, but in other sources like the Aeneid. Some of the events are referenced in the Odyssey, though. I would recommend reading the Wikipedia article on the Trojan War in conjunction with the Iliad. There is so much that happened both before and after the events in the Iliad.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. I found the emphasis on strength and courage and lack of mercy shown very illustrative of the ancient culture. Also interesting was the dynamics of the primitive Greek theology, with the gods resembling superhumans with magic powers.