Reading Homer's Iliad

KOSTAS MYRSIADES, professor emeritus of Greek and comparative literature at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, is a distinguished translator and Hellenist and the recipient of the Gold Medallion (1995) from Greece's Hellenic Society of Translators of Literature. He is the author and/or translator of 22 books, articles, and invited lectures on Greek literature and culture, including Reading Homer's "Odyssey" (Bucknell University Press). For twenty-two years (1990-2012) he edited College Literature, a quarterly of literary criticism and theory.

"This book will likely find a wide audience of readers looking to read the Iliad for the first time or to become more intimate with its depths. Myrsiades brings a lifetime of reading and teaching Homer to the task of initiating new audiences to the Iliad."— Joel Christensen, co-author of Homer: A Beginner's Guide"An in-depth and engaging overview for students and scholars seeking a deeper understanding of the Iliad's story. The many thoughtful insights into tradition-based narrative patterns reveal an author who possesses an intimate and long-lived relationship with the epic."— Andrew Porter, author of Agamemnon, the Pathetic Despot: Reading Characterization in Homer"A clear and insightful commentary on the Iliad. Close attention to ancient Greek terms is joined to generously humane interpretation. New and returning readers of the Homeric epic will profit from this meticulously detailed and thematically comprehensive work."— Jonathan S. Burgess, author of Homer

• List of Illustrations Introduction: The Poem, the Poet, and the Myth 1 Achilles' Wrath Exposed: Il. 1 (Days One to Twenty-One)Book 1 2 The First Battle: Il. 2–7 (Days Twenty-Two to Twenty-Four)Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 3 The Second Battle: Il. 8–10 (Day Twenty-Five)Book 8 Book 9 Book 10 4 The Third Battle: Il. 11–18 (Day Twenty-Six)Book 11 Book 12 Book 13 Book 14 Book 15 Book 16 Book 17 Book 18 5 The Fourth Battle: Il. 19–23 (Day Twenty-Seven)Book 19 Book 20 Book 21 Book 22 Book 23 6 Achilles' Wrath Concluded: Il. 24 (Days Twenty-Eight to Fifty-Three)Book 24 Appendix A: Days Covered by the Iliad Narrative Appendix B: Character Names in the Iliad Appendix C: Place-Names in the Iliad Appendix D: Greek Terms Cited AcknowledgmentsNotes General Bibliography Index