Book description
When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017-revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that "combines intellectual authority with addictive readability" (Edith Hall, The Sunday Telegraph)-critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, The New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian) that would…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Iliad as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book is an epic about a war fought over a woman (Helen, the “face that launched a thousand ships”), yet this is the first major translation by one. Emily Wilson’s translation sounds fresh and up-to-date yet stays closer to Homer than the versions I encountered growing up.
I love how Wilson treats Homer’s women, avoiding the clichés and derogatory language used by previous translators. And her work has the narrative drive that Homer deserves, making this very old, very familiar story a real page-turner.
From Rachel's list on ancient goddesses heroines from a woman’s viewpoint.
Honestly, just dive right in at the beginning. Homer’s epics were the earliest Greek stories to be written down (in around 800 BCE). They drew on traditions passed down by word-of-mouth for generations before that, and they shaped almost everything that came after.
The Iliad is set towards the end of the Trojan War. Against a vast background of violent battles and claims about heroic valour we get a story of the dysfunction that runs riot as Achilles takes offence and withdraws from the fighting.
Emily Wilson’s extraordinary translation manages to balance simultaneously the unironic grandeur of Homer’s world and…
From Greta's list on proving that Greek myth (still) matters.
If you love The Iliad...
The High House
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Want books like The Iliad?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 96 books like The Iliad.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,210
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like The Iliad, you might also like...
Aggressor
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
