The Iliad
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The Iliad Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Homer (Author), Charles Purkey (Narrator), Page2Page (Publisher)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 5,137 ratings
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The Iliad is one of the two great epics of Homer, and is typically described as one of the greatest war stories of all time, but to say the Iliad is a war story does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action and characters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth and history in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy.

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  1. Listening Length
    14 hours and 8 minutes
  2. Author
    Homer
  3. Narrator
    Charles Purkey
  4. Audible release date
    July 1, 2019
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Page2Page
  7. ASIN
    B07TV7P4K1
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 14 hours and 8 minutes
Author Homer
Narrator Charles Purkey
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date July 01, 2019
Publisher Page2Page
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07TV7P4K1
Best Sellers Rank #110,704 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#33 in Epic Poetry (Audible Books & Originals)
#402 in Epic Poetry (Books)
#668 in Fairy Tale Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
5,137 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tom McGann
5.0 out of 5 stars Xxx
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
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Xxx
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Iain
5.0 out of 5 stars Close to perfect for the first time reader
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2013
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I agree with almost everything Bruce Trinque says in his review... with one obvious exception, so I'll concentrate on that.

Given that with Verity the reader is "getting something that hews quite closely to the original" for a variety of reasons, and despite that it's "not the finest English poetic rendition" but "may well be the best way for an Enflish (sic) language reader to best approach the real heart of the Iliad," I would suggest that it is, in fact, close to perfect for the first time reader. In my opinion, it's also impressive for those already familiar with the poem, both in the Greek and in other translations.

Also, I would recommend that first time readers avoid like the plague both Fagles' and Mitchell's versions, the former vastly overwritten and the latter vastly underwritten. That's not to say that Fagles and Michell have produced unreadable versions, but both are very definitely "based on" the Greek text as opposed to being an attempt to faithfully reproduce the Greek text into English, which is what Verity is attempting and largely succeeds in doing. For what it's worth, I admire both the Fagles and Mitchell versions.

Lattimore's translation comes closest to Verity's in form and spirit and is venerated, justly, by many, but I prefer Verity's on the grounds that it's less cumbersome in expression, a fault which Lattimore falls into surprisingly often, and Verity seldom makes straightforward translation errors, which crop up in Lattimore more often than one might expect.

My only serious objection to Verity is that he frequently alters the expression of what are verbatim repetitions in the Greek, almost as if he were trying to disguise the immense volume of such occurences in the original.

However, if I were recommending a translation for first time readers, Verity's would come first with Lattimore's a close second.
32 people found this helpful
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Conrad Borski
4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult, but Important.
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2024
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The Iliad often suffers from an over-abundance of characters which makes remembering who's on what side and what their role is hard to remember. Even with these flaws, The Iliad makes for an impactful and important read for college students
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Alva Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars Socially and emotional complex beyond my expectations
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2016
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I don't know why people are so into the Odyssey as a tale of ~*the human condition*~ and why I so often hear that the Iliad is just a story about a war. There's a ton of character development and social/interpersonal nuance on every page of the Iliad. The conflict on the battlefield is told as much by its actual events as it is by strife amongst allies and among the gods as well. Yes, there are boring passages about How Many Boats Are Present but there's also an intensely emotional and gripping (gripping like the narrative makes it impossible not to feel like your heart is being crushed in a vice) climax and conclusion. The story is so good/intense it ruined my life for a solid week. I'm posting this review because Amazon keeps emailing me asking how many stars I would give the Iliad and every time I see that email come up I just think "oh my god stop asking me this book ripped my soul to shreds and rendered me void of any spirit for a week PLEASE DON'T REMIND ME." For the love of whatever please stop asking, it's legit distressing.

By the way: the Iliad is ancient gay angst. Nobody ever told me that part before (and it is The Entire Part, Really) but if I'd known that I would have read it a lot sooner. So there you have it.
8 people found this helpful
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Marco Vaca Salvador
3.0 out of 5 stars Another classic revisited
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2015
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What "new" thing can you really say about a 2500+ year old book? Not much really, but I'll try to convey my opinion in a few words.

This has to be THE story about (classic) heroism, duty, and ancient warfare; it is also one of the mythology must-reads. I really wanted to read the verse version but I settled for this (decent) prose translation.

From the last time I read this (high school, more than 20 years ago) I gotta say it was very good to remember this story. Diomed, Hector, Achilles and even Priam are very well written characters, who are interesting and seem to have real motivations, fears and emotions. Also, I didn't really remember the timeline of the story. It begins with the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon, and ends with Hector's funeral. The fragility of my memory plus Hollywood taxed my perception of this in particular.

The only drawbacks from the book I think is the astounding level of genealogic detail. Most of the time you will skim over long paragraphs of names that you really won't ever remember, let alone their forefather's names. That really cuts the flow of the book. Some people will perhaps love this, but I think it detracts from the (modern) readability of the book.

I think I will re-read this again in 20 years, to see if my memory of the story has improved, or perhaps the 100th Hollywood interpretation of the story will have erased completely the fantastic "original" storyline.

Re-read this girls and boys. You will enjoy it, provided you don't get bored in the genealogy trees.
9 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2023
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good read
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Mithil Bhoras
5.0 out of 5 stars A time travel to the ancient world
Reviewed in India on May 28, 2022
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Note: Review is for Penguin Classics version. Translation by E.V. Rieu

This year I've decided to dive deep into the mythology of the ancient world: a form of literature that changed our art and history as we know it. Next up are the critical editions of Indian Itihasic epics. But I decided to tackle the relatively short epics of the Greek and Sumerian worlds.

And boy was I blown away. For modern readers who enjoy stuff like Harry Potter or other fantasy/mythology stuff, this may honestly be a tough story to get into. Ancient mythology often digress, very frequently, to subplots that may not be related to the core story. For example, when a soldier is killed, Iliad goes on a short tangent to explain their backstory.

At first this seems nonsensical, especially for us modern readers who are used to sharp, to the point stories. And who live in a time of people with short attention spans. But it is totally the opposite: Greek mythology is an intricate, dense epic with vast arrays of characters, mortal and immortal, who are connected in complicated alliances or enemities. A relationship two characters may have can have serious repurcussions later in the story. A minor character whom you thought minor may not be what they seem.

Even we ignore the last context, it feels EPIC to give importantance to minor insignificant detail since these fill the story with meaning, making you believe that this truly is happening right in front of you. The book gives a detailed catalog of all the alliances and contingents: something that modern writers will refrain from, without knowing this might add a juicy flavor to their stories.

Having read my fair share of fantasy epics, I know how one walks a thin line when writing in a detailed fashion, with many digressions. This is an issue I seemed to have with writers like Sanderson or Jordan. What makes Iliad different is that it details only on the things that are important. It doesn't waste time describing architecture or places but instead words are spent on beautiful descriptions of lineages, armors, shields, and alliances.

Homer's epics are also famous for their use of simile. Like calling someone "Swift footed" or "Godlike" when mentioning someone. Or giving examples like comparing the veracity of a hero's attack to that of a lion attacking a herd of sheep. Homer ensures he can use simile any where he can. It makes the experience enrichening, powerfully imaginative. I still wonder why modern writers don't try to be this poetic?

The intricate ways all the subplots simply collide over each other gives a lot of entertainment and even a philosophical insight into human nature. It is no surprise that Greek philosophy often takes Homer's epics as examples to ponder over philosophies like ethics, aesthetics, politics, etc. which have essentially single-handedly impacted whole of western thought.

When looked through a modern lens, there obviously are many ethical issues. All characters, good or bad, approve of slavery (including Achilles). But this is obviously an incorrect approach. The story needs to be enjoyed taking into consideration the time it was written in, when things like slavery were totally acceptable in many ancient societies.

It still feels breathtaking to see the representation of many moral, philosophical issues that remain relevant today. War and Revenge are Iliads primary themes and the insurmountable tragedy they cause may remain forever relevant. The absolute poetic prose brings you closer to the characters.

Eg: there is this particular scene where Andromache begs her husband Hector to come back alive from the war, beging that since she lost all of her family, Hector was a husband, father, brother, sister and mother to her, all of it. Despite the ugly fact that it was his family that sacked and destroyed her home, I was still moved by this astonishingly poetic statement, which also helped me care for Hector.

All in all, this is one of the most pulse pounding, thrilling epics I've read. And it comes as no surprise to me why it has stood the test of time!
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Otto
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottima versione di un classico eterno
Reviewed in Italy on March 5, 2022
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Ottima versione in prosa (e in inglese) dell'Iliade che è perfettamente comprensibile e permette di apprezzare questo classico eterno. Consigliato.
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L
1.0 out of 5 stars Skip intro
Reviewed in Sweden on September 25, 2021
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Skip the introduction and don't read the chapter summaries. For some reason the translator of this book is intent on spoiling the ending whenever he can, even when barely related.
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Peter
5.0 out of 5 stars The Myth and the History of Aeneas, who escaped from a burning Troy to arrive in Italy
Reviewed in Germany on July 14, 2020
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When the war which saw the Greeks against the inhabitants of Troy was finished, with the complete destruction of Troy, few people escaped from Troy and sailed through the Mediterranean see and arrived where today is Rome.
The Hero who made this journey is Aeneas, a descendant of the King of Troy, who will experience many adventures before arriving in Italy. The book provides a good idea of the human beings' life, habits and feeling in the 8th Century before Christ.
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