The Iliad - Robert Fagles Translation

Author: Homer
Translated by : Robert Fagles

This Translation Originally Published: 1990
Length: 704 pages
Personal Enrichment Factor: 4/5
Amazon.com Rating: 4.5/5 (141 Customer Reviews)

I'm sure there are a lot of reasons people choose to read The Iliad (other than by force). I think my main interest in it is from a historical and sociological perspective more than a literary one. I mean, it's 3,000 years old! It's amazing and exciting that we have this slice of Greek culture that is still being experienced today. I did not take notes at all, but did read it out loud whenever I could--chalk it up to a wannabe bard complex?? I can see why it's a classic--there's so much that can be discussed about it, I don't even know where to begin. Here are some random thoughts:

• I have not done a comparison of the different translations (for an excellent discussion of this topic, check out this post at Rebecca Reads, the host of the Really Old Classics Challenge), but I found this version very straightforward and easy to understand, which definitely helps when reading a lengthy epic.
• It's helpful to know the back story before beginning The Iliad, to understand why they are at war, and what motivates different characters to do different things. I had seen a movie a few years ago called Helen of Troy which gave me a little background, although I'm sure it took some liberties with the story. I was definitely influenced by my memory of the characters in the movie (like my hatred of Agamemnon), which may have given me an inaccurate perception of things. Maybe a better way would be to look it up on Wikipedia.
• You get the idea that this is a society that glorifies war, but Homer is not guilty of glossing over the realities of war. Not only do you get a rather specific description of how someone is killed--"Peneleos hacked his neck below the ear and the blade sank clean through, nothing held but a flap of skin, the head swung loose to the side as Lycon slumped to the ground..."--but each warrior get a sort of a mini-eulogy where you learn about his family and maybe a good story about his life. You never forget that a war is made up of individuals with loved ones who will mourn.
• I found it ironic that while women were given as war prizes and raped as a ritual of conquest, it is two women who are the catalysts of the two main conflicts in the Iliad. Helen, of course, is the beautiful woman who "launched a thousand ships," instigating the war between the Achaeans and Trojans. And Briseis, the war prize (I cringe as I write that) who Agamemnon takes as his own after his prize is taken away, thus triggering the anger of Achilles. It is definitely hard to read this in terms of women's rights.
• I was surprised at the human-ness of the gods. Yes, I was aware of their soap-opera like existence, but didn't realize how vulnerable they are. I was a bit taken aback when Aphrodite, and later Ares, got injured. It was interesting too that the most powerful of Gods, Zeus, was so pathetically overpowered by Hera's magically seductive "wonderbra"-type thing. So basically the Greek gods are subject to anger, jealousy, injury, seduction, sorrow, manipulation, etc., BUT they live forever in that state. It sounds ike hell to me.
• Achilles and his refusal to fight in the war after Agamemnon takes Briseis way from him is the central conflict in the story, and I would imagine the most discussed/debated. I have to admit he's annoying--he runs to him mommy to ask the big god Zeus to beat up his friends who were mean to him. His stubbornness is unnerving, but I can't help but think that he is justified in being angry. If I'm remembering right, he was asked to come along because they knew he was the best fighter around. He was not bound by treaty as others who went. Agamemnon and the other leaders felt they would be unsuccessful without him along. So why did Agamemnon do something so stupid as taking away the star fighter's war prize? And it galls me that Agamemnon, who was willing to sacrifice his daughter so the winds would blow so they could set sail for Troy, could not find it in himself to give Briseis back to Achilles, and gain the advantage in the war.
• Some of the battle situations were amusing to me. For instance, the few attempts at ending the war by having to warriors from each army fight, only to end up in full battle again. Also, I couldn't help but wonder what Agamemnon was thinking when he decided to "test" his army by telling them "Let's just go home!" and they think that sounds like a pretty good idea. It's either Nestor or Odysseus I think who convinces them to continue fighting. And it wasn't exactly amusing so much as gruesome the amount of time and resourses they spent on certain corpses in hopes of mutilating them.
• The end of The Iliad gets really good, but I didn't realize that not only does the beginning start in the middle of things, the end cuts off before the war ends! I was waiting for the infamous arrow into Achilles' heel and the entry of the Trojan Horse. Some kind of resolution of the war. It's kind of like if you were to read just the The Half-Blood Prince of the Harry Potter series without reading anything before or after!
• One of the most beautiful parts of The Iliad was the desription of the armour made for Achilles. I don't know why, but that chapter just swept me away.
• My favorite characters were probably Nestor, Diomedes, Odysseus and Hector. Why? I think because they were likeable and actually had characteristics you could admire. Diomides was sort of like the man that Achilles could have been, but wasn't.
• Least favorite characters: Achilles (stubborn and vengeful, childish), Agamemnon (proud), Paris (cowardly--knows it but would rather hide in his bed than do anything about it), and Helen (I guess she's just so pathetically passive, but what else could she do?)

I really could go on and on, there's so much to discuss--hence its enduring quality. I would love to study this in a class and learn more about Greek values and history. But for now, I will have just scatched the surface and enjoyed a "really old classic."