The Iliad

De: Homer, Emily Wilson - translator

Narrado por: Audra McDonald

2024 Audie Award Winner for Literary Fiction & Classics

When Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017―rendering the ancient poem in contemporary language that was “fresh, unpretentious and lean” (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)―critics lauded it as “a revelation” (Susan Chira, New York Times) and “a cultural landmark” (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of Homer’s other great epic―the most revered war poem of all time.

Brought to life in vivid audio form, this crisp verse translation of The Iliad roars with the clamor of arms, the bellowing boasts of victors, the fury and grief of loss, and the anguished cries of dying men. It sings, too, of the sublime magnitude of the world―the fierce beauty of nature and deities’ grand schemes beyond the ken of mortals.

Wilson’s musical iambic pentameter verse is brought to life in the evocative voice of narrator and Broadway legend Audra McDonald. In her thrilling reading, this magical and often horrifying tale gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes. The culmination of a decade of intense engagement with antiquity’s most surpassingly beautiful and emotionally complex poetry, Wilson’s Iliad now gives us a complete Homer for our generation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Emily Wilson (Translation) (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

Great Translation

This is a great translation. Really brings the story alive. And to listen to it in a woman’s voice—chef’s kiss!

Very accessible, evocative, entertaining.

A wonderful listen. Wish I had listened before trying to read the printed text. I’ll go back now to reread.

Magnificent!

Although I have heard another translation of the Iliad before, Emily Wilson’s is the best in terms of the musicality of the language and the depth of the emotions. By focusing on the oral origin of this myth, she crafted a new translation that is fresh, vibrant, and vivid. I felt like I was listening to Homer himself. It is also accessible in a way other stodgy translations are not. I highly recommend this book.

Stunning

Absolutely fantastic in every imaginable way, from translation to reading. A deeply moving tale of mortality, and above all: the tragic paradox of how we rail against it by battling with one another, only to finish curled up in a ball, broken by grief.

Simply wonderful

This was my first time with the Iliad. I don’t know what I was expecting but this was great to listen to. I can’t speak to the accuratesy of the translation, however, the word flowed marvelously. Audra McDonald did an excellent job with the Greek pronunciation, tempo and emotion of the piece.

Easy to follow

Love this version. Easy to follow and appreciate the work. It helps you enjoy this classic.

beautifully translated, spectacularly narrated

cannot praise the work of Audra McDonald highly enough, and though this is the first translation I have read, Wilson's work was beautiful

Hard to follow

Language is beautiful. The performance did not differentiate between voices, it was hard to follow

Classic Greek Epic in Poetic form

I enjoyed listening to Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad. The choice to structure the epic in prose/poetry form helped me hear the rhythm and song-like nature of the story. I thought the prologue provided some very helpful historical and cultural context, especially around how the Greeks mourned and treated the dead. I liked the explanation for the literary device used in moments of very strong emotion, when the narrator goes from third person to talking directly to a character.
It was easy to keep track of the main characters because of how their names and titles were repeated so often, although it was harder to keep track of more briefly mentioned side characters, as there were many hundreds of those.

I enjoyed the metaphors, similes, and comparisons the Iliad used to illustrate the scope and size of the story. How the Greek campfires outside of Troy were as numerous as stars, and how they descended on the Trojans like a flurry of snowflakes. The way the foliage and beauty of the river was described as it was burned, and how almost a whole chapter was used to describe Achilles’s new armor crafted by Hephaestus. The lengthy descriptions of the large and beautiful world stood in sharp contrast to the descriptions of the deaths on the battlefield. A warrior did not kill in the same way twice in a row, and every kill was as gruesome (and sometimes as impossible) as the last.

Recommend this book to high school level or college level students interested in Greek and Roman classics (epics ) and history.

The careful and incredibly nuanced “voices” of Audra McDonald

Emily Wilson’s narrative is contemporary and heroic art, delivering both empathy and horror at the same time. The story moves with an inexorable momentum. McDonald is spectacular in conveying the gore and agony of battle while also varying her tone to inhabit the characters of myriad gods and heroes. I have read the Iliad in other translations, but this is the first time I have so viscerally felt the brutality, humanity, and the spectacle of this ever-relevant epic poem. Many thanks to Audible for taking on this project