'The best modern prose translation of The Iliad' Robin Lane Fox, The Times

The first of the world's great tragedies, The Iliad centres on the pivotal four days towards the end of the ten-year war between the Greeks and the Trojans. In a series of dramatic set pieces, it follows the story of the humiliation of Achilleus at the hands of Agamemnon and his slaying of Hektor: a barbarous act with repercussions that ultimately determine the fate of Troy. The Iliad not only paints an intimate picture of individual experience, but also offers a universal perspective in which human loss and suffering are set against a vast and unpitying divine background where fickle, quarrelsome gods decide the fate of men.

Translated with an Introduction by Martin Hammond

About the Author

The Greeks attributed both the Iliad and the Odyssey to a single poet whom they named Homer. Nothing is known of his life, though the main ancient tradition made him a native of the island of Chios in east Aegean. His date too is uncertain: most modern scholars place the composition of the Iliad in the second half of the eighth century BC.
Martin Hammond has taught in England and in Greece. He has also translated the Odyssey. He is now Headmaster of Tonbridge School

Reviews
Much the best modern prose translation of the Iliad -- Robin Lane Fox * Financial Times *
This new prose translation of the Iliad is outstandingly good . . . to read it is to be gripped by it * Classical Review *
Superbly direct and eloquent . . . by its sensitivity, fluency, and flexibility, it will win a permanent place on the shelves of Homer-lovers -- Martin Fagg * Times Educational Supplement *
Martin Hammond's new version is the best and most accurate there has ever been, as smooth as cream but as clear as water . . . Hammond's Iliad deserves to become a standard book -- Peter Levi * Independent *
Surely the best Iliad in quite a few decades * Greece & Rome Journal *
Here is a fine Iliad for our times, to be read with great pleasure -- Philip Howard * The Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780140444445
Author Homer
Format Paperback
Page Count 528
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 362g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 22mm