Emily Wilson's Iliad

Emily Wilson’s 2018 translation of Homer’s Odyssey garnered wide praise, bringing a contemporary sound and sensibility to a new generation of readers. Her fresh rendition of The Odyssey, in a brisk iambic pentameter, highlighted elements of the poem—such as relationships mediated by gender, wealth, poverty and power—that previous translators had overlooked or suppressed. Wilson’s new translation of Homer’s other great epic, The Iliad, to be published in late September 2023, promises to be equally provocative and captivating.

The Iliad, European literature’s first great work, takes an unflinching look at the nature, and costs, of war. Its story takes place over just a few pivotal weeks, near the end of a Bronze-Age Greek army’s ten-year siege of the great city of Troy—a war fought, nominally at least, to punish Trojans for the abduction of their queen, Helen of Sparta, by the Trojan prince Paris. The invading Greek army’s greatest warrior, Achilles, withdraws from the fighting after a dispute with their leader Agamemnon, bringing the threat of defeat and destruction upon the Greeks. Achilles’ action precipitates devastating results for both sides, ultimately leading to the fall of Troy itself.

Though memorable for its scenes of bloody battle and the squabbling of the gods on Olympus, The Iliad exudes an intense humanity, infusing a tragic longing for peace amid the seeming inevitability of war and destruction. Homer invites us to put ourselves into the world of the war: a place no one wants to be, where the gods seem unpredictable, and where there’s a genuine question of whether justice is anywhere to be found. We are challenged to take seriously the warriors’ values of honour and glory, which may be very different from values we hold.

The Iliad asks basic questions about what really matters: about what is worth living—and dying—for. It confronts us with fundamental questions about honour, community, justice, love, and loyalty, as the story’s characters search to make sense of their own mortality.

“Rage — Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls …”

– Homer, The Iliad (translator Robert Fagles)

STUDY DETAILS:

• Facilitated by Mark Cwik
• Eight-week study (on Zoom), 30 October to 18 December 2023
• Monday evenings, 6.30 – 8.45 pm (UK)
• Cost £240
• Recommended edition: The Iliad, translated by Emily Wilson, W.W. Norton & Company (published on 26 September 2023) ISBN: 978-1324001805
• If you have any questions about this study, please contact facilitator Mark Cwik.
• N.B. This study is separate from but complementary to our planned Iliad travel study on the island of Agistri in 2024.