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Full Description
The Iliad presents superhuman heroes and superhuman rage, brutal death, unbounded sorrow, the craving for revenge, the shortness of life, the glory quest, and, ultimately, reconciliation and forgiveness. As human nature is unchanging, the Iliad's themes concern us as much today as they did Homer's audiences 2,700 years ago. Not for nothing did Ezra Pound observe that "a civilization was founded on Homer."
The Iliad is always relevant, even as it is timeless. Of interest to readers in every generation, it is a classic in the root sense. Homer was "the Bible of the Greeks." He was their mythology and history (still fairly merged at the time), their religion, their storehouse of ethics and exempla under an Olympian dispensation. And while the Odyssey is the more popular of Homer's epics, the Iliad is the more profound.
This is not merely another new translation of Homer's Iliad. It is sooner and foremost Homer's Iliad in a Classical Translation - the first-ever into a consistently 12-syllable line and, at the same time, the longest such work in the English language (the Iliad consisting of 15,639 lines in Greek). This translation by Jeffrey M. Duban uses a mildly archaizing style and other poetic devices to suggest the antiquity and flavor of Homeric composition. Like the original, it is both alliterative and polysyllabic - excessive monosyllabism the scourge of many a modern translation. Duban further observes epic decorum with recourse to poetic diction. Decorum entails the avoidance of colloquialisms and commonplaces, again in contrast to other translations.
This special limited edition hardback features a high-quality binding with an embossed finish, jacket, headbands and printed endpapers.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Persons, Places, Regions, and Relationships
Pronunciation, Principal Characters
Preface
I:
Commentary
Introduction
I. A Personally Taken Iliad
II. Homeric Language: As Rich as English Might Aspire to Become
III. Dactylic Hexameter: The Meter of Homer and Classical Epic (in Brief)
IV. Homeric Artificiality in Translation: Rightness of Result
1. Alliteration: Roots and Reason
2. Making a Translation: Freedom in Constraint
3. Inflection, Particles, Dialect Forms
4. Rhetorical Artificiality
5. Alliteration: Artificiality's Case in Point
II:
Homer's Iliad in a Classical Translation
(Each book preceded by a summary)
Prologue: Mythological Background
Book 1 | Achilles and Agamemnon Quarrel, Achilles Withdraws from Battle, Thetis Implores Zeus to Avenge Achilles by Favoring the Trojans
Book 2 | Zeus Sends Agamemnon a False Dream, Agamemnon Tests the Army, the Rowdy Thersites, the Catalogue of Ships
Book 3 | The Parties Declare a Truce, the View from the Wall, the Single Combat Between Menelaus and Paris
Book 4 | The Trojans Breach the Truce, Agamemnon Marshals the Forces, the First Day of Battle
Book 5 | The Battlefield Excellence (or "Aristeia") of Diomedes, His Wounding of Aphrodite and Ares
Book 6 | Diomedes and the Lycian Glaucus Exchange Armor in a Chivalrous Gesture, the Parting of Hector and Andromache
Book 7 | The Single Combat between Hector and Ajax, the Dead are Buried, the Greeks Build a Wall to Protect Their Encampments and Ships
Book 8 | The Trojans Advance to the Wall and Encamp, the Greeks Beleaguered, the Second Day of Battle
Book 9 | The Embassy to Achilles: Agamemnon Seeks to Reconcile Achilles with Gifts
Book 10 | The Night Raid, Diomedes and Odysseus Capture and Kill the Trojan Spy Dolon
Book 11 | The Savagery and Wounding of Agamemnon, Patroclus Seeks to Identify a Wounded Greek and (at Nestor's Urging) Will Seek to Impersonate Achilles, the Third Day of Battle
Book 12 | Hector Storms the Barricade and Enters the Greek Camp, the Fourth Day of Battle
Book 13 | Battle is Waged for the Greek Ships, Poseidon Aids the Greeks, Mayhem Reigns, Idomeneus Deters the Trojan Advance
Book 14 | The Deception of Zeus: Aphrodite and the God Sleep Assist Hera in Seducing Zeus Who Then Slumbers as Hera Aids the Greeks
Book 15 | Zeus Awakens and Chastises Hera, the Greeks are Repulsed to Their Ships, the Doings of Ajax, the Fifth Day of Battle
Book 16 | Deeds and Deaths of Sarpedon, Cebriones, and Patroclus, the Sixth Day of Battle
Book 17 | Fight for the Body of Patroclus, Deeds of Ajax and Menelaus, the Seventh Day of Battle
Book 18 | Achilles' Anguish for Patroclus, Thetis and the Nereids Mourn, Hephaestus Forges New Armor for Achilles
Book 19 | Achilles and Agamemnon Reconciled, Briseis Restored
Book 20 | The Gods Prepare for Battle, Achilles Returns to the Plain
Book 21 | Achilles Battles the River Scamander, Hephaestus Checks the River's Advance
Book 22 | The Death of Hector: Hector Dragged by the Heels Behind Achilles' Chariot Around the Walls of Troy
Book 23 | The Immolation of Patroclus, the Games in His Honor
Book 24 | The Ransoming of Hector's Body, the Immolation of Hector
