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sam_sklh 's review for:

The Iliad by Homer
3.0
slow-paced

In anticipation of reading the Odyssey, I opted to start first by exploring Odysseus’ character prior to his journey home. Unsurprisingly (as I really didn’t know much about The Iliad to begin with), this wasn’t really a story about Odysseus at all - taking center stage was Achilles and Patroclus. 

Fine by me as I felt this provided the opportunity to read the source material for the retellings I’ve loved to read (Clytemnestra, The Song of Achilles, even Circe to a degree). It was extremely interesting reading about the aforementioned characters, Menelaus, Agamemnon, Hector and Priam, etc. 

The best parts of this book were the beginning and the end (in essence, anything except for the actual war). Unfortunately, everything in the middle consisted of the gory details of the deaths of thousands of characters you don’t really know (or care about). 

That said, the politics, the love stories and the laments were what made this book enjoyable to me.