Iliad

Homer was an ancient Greek poet believed to have lived in the 8th century BCE. He is the author of two of the most significant epic poems in Western literature, The Iliad and The Odyssey, celebrated for their narrative depth and exploration of human experience.Ian Johnston is Professor Emeritus of Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina University-College) in British Columbia, Canada, where he taught Classics and English. He has translated Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Homer, Ovid and Sophocles, and modern works by Kant, Kafka, Montaigne and Nietzsche. He is the author of The Ironies of War: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad (1987). Tom Butler-Bowdon is editor of the Capstone Classics series and has written introductions to Machiavelli's The Prince, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, and Wallace Wattles' The Science of Getting Rich. A graduate of the London School of Economics, he is also the author of 50 Self-Help Classics, 50 Success Classics, and 50 Psychology Classics.

• Introduction by Ian Johnston viiTranslator's Note xxxviiEditor's Note xxxixAbout Ian Johnston xliAbout Tom Butler-Bowdon xliiiThe Iliad xlvBook One The Quarrel by the Ships 1Book Two Agamemnon's Dream and The Catalogue of Ships 27Book Three Paris, Menelaus, and Helen 61Book Four The Armies Clash 81Book Five Diomedes Goes to Battle 105Book Six Hector and Andromache 141Book Seven Hector and Ajax 165Book Eight The Trojans Have Success 185Book Nine Peace Offerings to Achilles 209Book Ten A Night Raid 239Book Eleven The Achaeans Face Disaster 265Book Twelve The Fight at the Barricade 299Book Thirteen The Trojans Attack the Ships 317Book Fourteen Zeus Deceived 351Book Fifteen The Battle at the Ships 373Book Sixteen Patroclus Fights and Dies 405Book Seventeen The Fight Over Patroclus 441Book Eighteen The Arms of Achilles 475Book Nineteen Achilles and Agamemnon 503Book Twenty Achilles Returns to Battle 523Book Twenty-One Achilles Fights the River 545Book Twenty-Two The Death of Hector 571Book Twenty-Three The Funeral Games for Patroclus 595Book Twenty-Four Achilles and Priam 635Glossary of People and Places 671