The Iliad

By: Homer, Stephen Mitchell - translator

Narrated by: Alfred Molina

Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The power and the beauty of The Iliad resound again across 2,700 years in Stephen Mitchell's exciting new translation, as if the lifeblood of its heroes Achilles and Patroclus, Hector and Priam flowed in every word. And we are there with them amid the horror and ecstasy of war, carried along by a poetry that lifts even the most devastating human events into the realm of the beautiful.

Based on the recent, superb M.L. West edition of the Greek, this Iliad is more accessible and moving than any previous version. Whether it is his exciting recent version of Gilgamesh, with more than 150,000 copies sold, or his unmatched translation of the poet Rilke, still the standard after 29 years, or his Tao Te Ching, which has sold more than 900,000 copies and has itself been translated into six languages, Stephen Mitchell's books are international sensations. Now, thanks to his scholarship and poetic power, which re-creates the energy and simplicity, the speed, grace, and continual thrust and pull of the original, The Iliad's ancient story bursts vividly into new life and will reach an even larger audience of listeners.

Please note: Book 10, recognized since ancient times as a later addition to the Iliad, has been omitted in this translation.

©2011 Stephen Mitchell (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

“Stephen Mitchell’s magnificent new translation of the Iliad reminds us that there is always a new and different way to read and interpret the great classics, and that they need to be reinvigorated from generation to generation, just as we need to be reminded that they are, however venerated, above all stories: exciting, full of life and great characters, in short great entertainment, not just great monuments of culture or the Western canon. Mr. Mitchell has accomplished this difficult feat wonderfully well, and produced a book which is a joy to read and an Iliad for this generation.” (Michael Korda, D. Litt., author of Hero, Ike, and Ulysses S. Grant)

"Stephen Mitchell has done a marvelous thing here: he has given fresh energy and poetic force to a work that perennially repays our attention. Without the Iliad the West would be a vastly poorer place; Homer’s achievement speaks to every successive generation with its unflinching understanding of the essential tragic nature of life. Mitchell’s translation is a grand accomplishment.” (Jon Meacham, author of American Lion)

"Mitchell’s wonderful new version of the Iliad is a worthy addition to his list of distinguished renditions of the classics.” (Peter Matthiessen)

incredible translation meets wonderful narrator

Mitchell's translation conveys beauty and depth; Molina's narration encompasses propulsive action, quiet pathos, and wrenching sorrow.

I could hardly stop listening.

As with Gilgamesh, Mitchell has cut the fat and arranged what's left in a beautiful, modern whole. The voice work is perfect. The book comes alive in a way that's impossible for more faithful translations. The scenes are tighter. The boasts no longer sound so ridiculous. And best of all are the insults, which have actual bite in Mitchell's hands. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A great listen!

If you could sum up The Iliad in three words, what would they be?

While Mitchell's translation and the variation of the Illiad it is based on are rather controversial, it is surely a wonderful thing to listen to. The great actor, Alfred Molina, does a splendid job. A true pleasure to listen to. Mitchell's translation in contemporary English makes the text especially alive.

loved it

Alfred Molina performs incredibly. Great experience. Great story. Odyssey comes next with Ian McKellen, cannot wait.

Mostly great

It is well read and written but with an excessively long start which goes over all the people and main events in full dialect and the narrators personal take and opinions

Some reviewers were reviewing the introduction

Would you listen to The Iliad again? Why?

Yes, because Alfred Molina does a beautiful job.

Any additional comments?

I just wanted to make it clear that many people gave this recording a bad review and then went on to describe the introduction, which, I agree, was read by someone who I would not go out of my way to listen to, but still, you've got to be patient! That intro was unannounced and went on long enough that it is understandable that someone would think maybe it was just some absurd abridgment/outline if they didn't know that we were just waiting for Alfred to begin.

Skip the intro.

The introduction is written and narrated badly.
The Iliad itself is the Iliad and well narrated.

Great Translation/ technical issues

Having attempted to finish this book multiple times since reading excerpts in high school I have to say this translation was fantastic. By focusing on translating intent rather than mimicking the flowery prose that seems to overwhelm and muddy other transactions, the power of the story is laid bare allowing the reader to fully engage with the elements of human nature on display that clearly stands as a testament it’s timeless.
The narrator also does a fantastic job.
The only minor issue I had was that there are dips in audio quality that can sometimes effect clarity.

I Found the Poetry in the Illiad

Both the introductory chapters and the melodic narration helped me feel the poetry of the Illiad and appreciate it in a way I never could before.

Riveting

I expected something more free-form from Stephen Mitchell, something hewing less closely to the original; I don't know why. What's here is spectacular: a disciplined, sustained march from the beginning to the tragic (and transcendent) end. It's one of the best verse translations of "The Iliad" I've ever read.

You may have heard that there are "parts missing." True, but don't let that put you off. The omitted passages, about 1000 lines altogether, are almost universally considered later additions: this amounts to the whole of Book 10 (and good riddance!) and several hundred other lines scattered here and there throughout the poem. Apart from the omitted book, the differences are invisible (at least to me). What remains is tight, with an almost crystalline precision, an economy of movement that results in stunning action sequences and wholly realized grace notes.

You may have also heard that Mitchell dispensed with the heroic epithets that make up so much of the texture of Homer. Maybe some; maybe there aren't as many as in some other translations; but Athena, in Mitchell's rendering, is still grey-eyed; Apollo is still he "who shoots from afar"; and plenty of Trojans and Achaeans alike are "breakers of men" and "tamers of horses." This is in no respect a prosed-down or dumbed-down translation. It's the genuine article.

Alfred Molina gives a spirited reading, softer and slower in some places, bursting into vibrant energy, trembling with anger, in the furious dialogue and the shock of battle. Mitchell is reported to be working on a companion version of "The Odyssey." I hope he is: and I hope, when he's done, that he gets Molina back to read it.