The Iliad & the Odyssey

This edition was absolutely gorgeous. I loved every detail of it. I purchased it as a Christmas present and I’m sure the receiver will love it too!

The Iliad and Odyssey in one big volume of 710 pages. I like Samuel Butler's prose translation of these epic stories. He used the Greek so that we can read of Odysseus and not Ulysses, Zeus and not Jove, Athene and not Minerva making it extremely readable. My eleven and twelve year old are reading this edition and it is easy for them to understand. The Iliad centers around the theme of Kleos- or glory and the Odyssey centers around Homecoming. This classic is a must read and it is a delight with this translation.

It's great having both of these books in one cover. Not sure about the other review. No typos here.

This book is the first epic poem ever written, and it still ranks among the best. Reading this book is fundamental to understanding the rest of Greco-Roman literature, as it is referred to constantly by the great Greek and Roman authors. The story itself is very good, telling of the Greek beseigment of Troy, attempting to take back Menelos' beautiful wife Helen, who was stolen by a Trojan prince. The great heroes of Greece (Ajax, Agamemnon, Diomed, Achilles) battle Hector, defender of Troy, and his army. The gods on Mount Olympus are divided, some taking the side of the Greeks and some the side of the Trojans. The gods frequently shift the balance of the war, and the deterministic worldview of the Greeks is easily seen. At one point Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, says that he only did things because the gods had subconsciously forced him to. At another point Homer mentions that the Greeks' wall fell because "It had been built without the concent of the immortals, and therefore it did not last." At any rate, it is a very insightful glimse into the mindset of the ancient Greeks, and is very insteresting. I would highly recommend reading this book. I do have one complaint, though. For some reason all of the gods' names are Roman instead of Greek. For example, Zeus is always changed to Jove. I fail to see why this is necessary, unless they were leading you into a reading of the Aenied. If this is the case, Butler should have explained it. Other than that, however, this was an excellent translation. Overall grade: A