The Iliad by Homer

Chryses prayed to the god Apollo, “Hear me, Silverbow! Thou who dost bestride Chryse and holy Cilla, thou who art the mighty lord of Tenedos, O Smintheus! If I have ever built a temple to thy pleasure, if I have ever burnt thee fat slices of bulls or goats, bestow upon me this boon: may the Danaans pay for my tears under thy shafts!” In the midst of the Trojan War, he prayed for his daughter, taken as prize by the Achaeans, and the downfall of Agamemnon, their king who denied Chryses’ pleas to return her. Apollo, having heard the desperate cries of his follower, rained his unerring arrows down on the Achaeans in a rage. It was the animals that fell first, dogs and mules dropping dead. Soon, there were countless piles of men. The arrows descended for nine days, and on the tenth, Agamemnon grudgingly made an agreement; he gave up Chryses’ daughter to put an end to Apollo’s wrath. But the king was full of greed, demanding prince Achilles’ ‘prize’ for himself, as his own was gone. Achilles, angered by the king’s disrespect, prays for the downfall of the Achaeans to his mother, the goddess Thetis, who in turn calls in the big guns, king of gods Zeus. Zeus mobilizes the Trojan army, and Achilles is forced to second guess his decision as his own comrades are killed.

The Iliad drops readers into this chaotic situation with no context, and for the first few pages of the book it was a little hard to understand any of what was going on. Because the translation I was reading (by W. H. D. Rouse) tried to keep the language and style as faithful to the original text as possible, it added to my confusion. It was meant to be in a colloquial style, but because it was published in 1938, much of that felt unfamiliar to me. However, as I kept reading, I grew more accustomed to the tone of the book, and it became easier to comprehend. 

The plot presented in The Iliad is insanely dramatic and intricate, and describes scenes ranging from battles to meetings in immense detail. While the translation is only 366 pages long, the text is compact enough that it feels a lot longer. The journey through the war focuses on Achilles’ dilemma and his eventual decision, introducing many characters on both sides with their own individual stories and conflicts. The intense drama and large scale of the story is fitting for one of the most widely renowned epics of all time. 

Personally, it’s hard for me to say I really enjoyed the book. There were some awesome and gripping moments, and the building tension throughout the novel made for a climactic conclusion, but I felt these high points were overshadowed in part by the drab tone that lasted for a sizable portion of the entire story. Some areas just felt like a drag to read through. The language used wasn’t the right fit for me, and I wasn’t as pulled into the story as with other books. It was as if I was observing these events from very far away, as opposed to books that pull you right into the midst of the action. Despite these issues I have with the book, I appreciated the change of pace from books I read in the past. Achilles’ wartime endeavors are a wild ride, with a conclusion that gives a sense of completion and accomplishment that many modern books lack.

-Andrew Kim