Iliad

Homer

ISBN 10: 1930972083 ISBN 13: 9781930972087

Publisher: Parmenides Audio, 2006

Synopsis

The classics are rapidly receding from public consciousness, and modern revisions of them, such as the film O Brother, Where Art Thou, are in genuine danger of never being linked to their original inspiration. Noted classicist Stanley Lombardo breathes new life into one of the most famous and beloved ancient works with an engaging and vibrant audio performance of Homer's Iliad. This state-of-the-art compact disc recording provides high-quality access to one of the greatest works in world literature.

"Gripping . . . Lombardo’s achievement is all the more striking when you consider the difficulties of his task . . . He manages to be respectful of Homer’s dire spirit while providing . . . some wonderfully fresh refashioning of his Greek. The result is a vivid and disarmingly hardbitten reworking of a great classic."—Daniel Mendelsohn, The New York Times Book Review
More than 3,000 years after the fall of Troy, here at last is a rendition of the Homeric epic that everybody can understand and appreciate. The world can't hear Homer speak his own words, but Stanley Lombardo is the next best thing. Reading his own acclaimed (unabdriged) translations, Lombardo's insightful rendition takes advantage of the rhythms and other poetic resources of everyday American speech. The result provides cinematic and performance qualities to the time-honored poetry—sharp scene cuts, dynamic language, urgency of the characters (human and divine). His virtuoso performance in these audiobooks reflects years of experience before a wide variety of audiences—beautifully paced, shaped, intoned, and acted throughout.
Stanley Lombardo is a Professor of Classics at Kansas University

About this title

Review

A Look Inside: The Iliad [Click Images to Enlarge]

First Seven Lines of the Iliad: This reconstruction is based on what we know about the earliest Greek orthography.

The Walls of Troy: The translator standing before the walls of the sixth city at Troy.

The Judgment of Paris: On the right a youthful Paris sits on a stone in a rural location. The sheep near his feet indicates that he is a shepherd. Athenian red-figure water jar, c. 450 BC.

The Rage of Achilles: The seated Agamemnon holds the scepter of authority and sits on a throne, his lower body wrapped in a robe. Athena seizes Achilles from behind by the hair. Roman mosaic from Pompeii, c. First Century AD. The Wedding of Zeus and Hera: A half-naked Zeus, sitting on a rock, clasps the wrist of Hera. One of her breasts is exposed as Hera removes her head covering in a traditional gesture of submission. c. 540 BC Hephaistos Prepares Arms for Achilles: The smithy-god, bearded and wearing a felt cap, sits in an elaborately draped hall on a platform holding a cloth with which he is polishing the finished shield. Between him and Thetis are the breastplate and the shinguards (the surface of the fresco is damaged here). From Pompeii, c. AD 60.

From the Publisher

Best Books 2006 Award Winner:
Best Non-Fiction Unabridged Audiobook (USABookNews.com)

The Common Review
"The definitive English version of Homer for our time."

About this edition

• Publisher: Parmenides Audio
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1930972083
• ISBN 13: 9781930972087
• Binding: Audio CD
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 12