Book Review: The Iliad

Title: The Iliad
Author: Homer Translator: W.H.D. Rouse
Publisher: Mentor Books Date: 1938
I'm disappointed that this is a prose version of the epic. I was hoping that I'd get to read a poetry version. It is rather easy to read, but I get the impression that the prose weighs the story down.

The battle scene descriptions are minimally discriptive but the dialog and interpersonal tension developed by it is rather interesting. Again, I find myself thinking it's got to be a better read when it is in poetry. I find the treatment of the goddesses to be lacking, virtually all of the characters are two dimensional. The character of Achillies and of hector are a bit more developed then those of Agemmonon, Odysessus, helen or any of the other major players. Athena and Apollow are not quite as flat as the other gods, but it's been disappointing in character development.

I'm curious why Ajax is translates as Aias. Perhaps the translation is attempting to stick as close to the Homeric Greek spelling of the names as possible. There is a good description of the battle traditions/practices of the ancient Greeks given and there is a clear feeling of the Greek camp.

The beseiged Troy is not as clear of a setting as the Greek camp, but both fail when compared to the battlefield. As a setting to be filled in by the mind, the battlefield comes within a surprising amount of initial detail for the reader.

I just finished the book, abit surprised that it ended before the death of Achillies and the sacking of Troy. I guess that it is Virgil's Aneid that ends with those scenes. Perhaps I'll find a poetry translation of the Iliad. This one was rather boring.

Note: This was originally published on Livejournal Aug 23, 2006. It was typed up as written in a paper reading journal from an earlier date in 2002.