The Iliad

By: Homer, Richmond Lattimore - translator

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The Iliad is one of the most enduring creations of Western Civilization and was originally written to be recited or chanted to the accompaniment of various instruments. Properly performed, this work today is just as meaningful, just as powerful, and just as entertaining as it was in the ninth century BC, and it casts its spell upon modern listeners with the same raw intensity as it did upon the people of ancient times.

As you listen to this great work, you feel yourself to be in the presence of a grandeur that suffuses the very air. There is no question that the poet, whether his name was Homer or not, was one of the supreme artists of all time and all civilizations. But this wonderful piece of poetry is not merely a catalog of events of the Trojan War. Specifically, the poem deals with the bitter dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon, and how the Greeks were almost destroyed by their hubris. Hovering about, the Olympian gods watch the unfolding events with keen interest, sometimes lending help and encouragement on one hand, or spreading fear and hatred on the other.

The Iliad is ultimately about the free will of man and his ability or failure to make rational choices in the face of conflict and chaos. Unlike the gods, men must face death, which gives their decisions a spiritual meaning which is absent on Olympus. The great legacy of The Iliad is its shattering revelation of what it means to be human in the face of life's uncertainty and fleeting mortality.

Public Domain (P)2008 Audio Connoisseur

Fantastic Story and Narration

Despite what other reviews have said, this is an unabridged version of the Iliad. It contains all 24 chapters.

Gods and War

so the human saga continues…folly of thinking that men have free will or favor of gods

This is the audio version you want

What made the experience of listening to The Iliad the most enjoyable?

There is a SIGNIFICANT quality difference between the translations of Iliad. Do yourself a favor and go with this one, the Lattimore translation.

The introduction to this audio version is surprisingly good. It is not the introduction written by Lattimore himself in my print copy of the Iliad, and it is much better as a general stage-setting to the text. I cannot fault the archaeological information, which is basic, or the discussion of literary devices and their origin as well as Homer's particularly fine usage of them. The overview of the first ten years of the Trojan War is excellent. I appreciate some of the ideas expressed about religion and spirituality in Classical Greece but the information given is based upon some outdated interpretations, especially as to the origins of the Olympian and other gods, and should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Other than this consideration--which any interested reader can follow up with his own research, and an uninterested reader will hardly care or remember later--the introduction, as I say, is very good.

The voice of Charlton Griffin is marvelous. It is filled with nobility and authority, richly textured, and precise.

Great overall telling, with a caveat

Fantastic reading of the Iliad. Good pacing, very well read. I particularly enjoy the dramatic framing of the chapters with firing music. As has been noted elsewhere, the false female voices were rather odd, if not to say mildly annoying, but this was only a minor problem.

Highly Recommended - Skip the Introduction Though

They story and narration are both very entertaining. Battle scenes are described most graphic. Great lessons in morality.

the ancient literature

the ancient Greeks wrote: all the things that we have to learn are in the father Homer.

Epic Poetry

Excellent! I listened to this audio book while reading along and making notes in the margins of the book

Fantastic! Beginner & I Loved It!

I bought because of a top 100 books list. I did not expect to enjoy, and it was awesome! The early section explains to the novice what to expect, and the story follows exactly as outlined. The writer even tells which parts are tedious. The reader does a remarkable job. I have bought other Greek literature because of this experience. The Odyssey is even better, but read this first.

Love it

Great reading, very entertaining tto listen to. The reader really tells the story in a way that makes you feel like those who heard Homer tell it must have felt.

Great audio book, poor editting

I regret not having addressed The Iliad until now. It is indeed a classic of literature and despite its age remains strongly engaging. However, if one's only understanding of the story is from popular film and television, one might have false expectations as to the story that The Iliad really tells. It's not about the Trojan War. That's just the backdrop. While details of the war are described and are important, what it really focuses on is Achilles' anger and its consequences. Achilles is the only character with an arc, despite large portions of the story not being directly about him.

The Iliad is also a great view back into ancient Greek sensibilities. What struck me most was the use of the word "evil." The story features no evil characters. Evil is never described as a human trait or even as a cosmic trait. Evil is what people do. Save for the mortal women, all characters, Gods and human men alike, commit "evils" against someone. Killing is evil as is death. Cheating and beguiling are evil, but simply committing any of these acts does not make anyone wicked. Indeed, all characters both love and are loved, support their comrades and families, and have some measure of nobility to them.

Charlton Griffin's performance was great. His voice has a sufficiently broad range to cover each any every character without difficulty and he certainly knows how to do that. My first exposure to his voice was through Paradise Lost, though that book had far fewer characters.

What stops me from giving this audio book a perfect rating is the editing -- which is horrible. There are inexplicably long pauses between segments and the volume changes at random. I eventually learned to reach for the volume knob on my car stereo at the end of each section, setting it to some neutral level. Else I would have either had to strain to hear or be startled by the volume. Had I been listening with headphones, I'd have taken off another star at least.

Thus, if you have a volume control easily at hand, I would definitely recommend this title. It has been described by many as "Bible" of Greek mythology. It's not quite that, as it covers only a limited number of Greek gods and other mythological figures, but of those it covers it describes them well and makes perfectly clear the relationship mortal men had with them.