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The Iliad

Homer

Start date: July 1, 2012

Finish date: July 31, 2012

Discussion: Old School Classics, Pre-1915

Why we're reading this: Old School Classic Group Read, July 2012
[close] Old School Classic Group Read, July 2012

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Old School Classics, Pre-1915

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What Members Thought

Dec 05, 2011 David S. T. rated it liked it

Shelves: religion, fiction

In high school, I read a rewritten short prose version of The Odyssey and I wanted to re-read it in a poetic version, but I decided to first read this. In hindsight, I'm not sure I was ready for this book yet. First I have a very limited knowledge of Greek mythology so I didn't know most of the gods with the exception of the main ones such as Zeus and I didn't know most of the Trojan war background and for the most part this book assumes you know both. I was also expecting this to be more like t ...more

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Oct 30, 2019 Alex Kohn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this! The middle twelve chapters dragged a lot and were fairly repetitive, with the war just going back and forth. And the violence was very gory and often fairly genealogically-focused. But that's okay! The poetry is very beautiful. A lot of the scenes are very moving. The gods are goofy. ...more

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Dec 27, 2018 Sara rated it really liked it

I spent the entire year reading this. Slowly. Re-reading in places, skipping others. I looked up various editions, translations, and commentaries. I am not done with The Iliad. I don't think one ever finishes this work. It weaves itself into your life whether you want it to or not. It sort of becomes a piece of work you spend your life reading. ...more

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Jan 15, 2021 Andreea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I did not expect to like this one as much as I did. It's a 3.5 stars, but I have way too much fun not to give it 4.

I loved the bickering, the gods, the moody heroes. It was an epic fun. ...more

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