‘There stood up in the assembly the hero son of Atreus, wide-ruling Agamemnon, in deep anger: fury filled his dark heart full’

The Iliad is the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilization. The story centres on the critical events in four days of the tenth and final year of the war between the Greek and Trojans. It describes how the quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilleus sets in motion a tragic sequence of events, which leads to Achilleus’ killing of Hektor and determines the ultimate fate of Troy. But Homer’s theme is not simply war or heroism. With compassion and humanity he presents a universal and tragic view of the world, of human life lived under the shadow of suffering and death, set against a vast and largely unpitying divine background. The Iliad is the first of the world’s great tragedies.

Martin Hammond’s acclaimed translation is accompanied by a full introduction and a comprehensive index.

‘A fine Iliad for our times’
Philip Howard, The Times

The Iliad
1. Plague and Wrath
2. A Dream, a Testing and the Catalogue of Ships
3. A Duel and a Trojan View of the Greeks
4. The Oath is Broken and Battle Joined
5. Diomedes' Heroics
6. Hector and Andromache
7. Ajax Fights Hector
8. Hector Triumphant
9. The Embassy to Achilles
10. Diomedes and Odysseus: The Night Attack
11. Achilles Takes Notice
12. Hector Storms the Wall
13. The Battle at the Ships
14. Zeus Outmanoeuvred
15. The Greeks at Bay
16. The Death of Patroclus
17. The Struggle Over Patroclus
18. Achilles' Decision
19. The Feud Ends
20. Achilles on the Rampage
21. Achilles Fights the River
22. The Death of Hector
23. The Funeral and the Games
24. Priam and Achilles

Appendices
1. A Brief Glossary
2. Ommitted Fathers' Names

Index