The Essential Iliad

While preserving the basic narrative of the Iliad, this selection also highlights the epic's high poetic moments and essential mythological content, and will prove especially useful in surveys of world literature.

This generous abridgment of Stanley Lombardo's translation of the Odyssey offers more than half of the epic, including all of its best-known episodes and finest poetry, while providing concise summaries for omitted books and passages. Sheila Murnaghan's Introduction, a shortened version of her essay for the unabridged edition, is ideal for readers new to this remarkable tale of the homecoming of Odysseus.

While preserving the basic narrative of the Iliad, this selection also highlights the epic's high poetic moments and essential mythological content, and will prove especially useful in surveys of world literature.

Selections from both Iliad and Odyssey, made with an eye for those episodes that figure most prominently in the study of mythology.

Renowned Homer scholar Barry B. Powell has already given the world powerful new translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Now his Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: The Essential Books brings together his translations of the most important books and passages from these two great poems in one handy volume. Accessible, poetic, and accurate, Barry Powell's translations are an excellent fit for today's students. With swift, transparent language that rings both ancient and modern, Powell exposes students to all of the rage, pleasure, pathos, cunning, and humor that are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Both the translations and the introductions are informed by the best recent scholarship. FEATURES * Uses well-modulated verse and accurate English that is contemporary but never without dignity * Powell's introduction sets the poems in their philological, mythological, and historical contexts * Features unique on-page notes, facilitating students' engagement with the poems * Embedded illustrations accompanied by extensive captions provide Greek and Roman visual sources for key passages * Maps provide geographic context for the poems' many place names * Audio recordings (read by Powell) of important passages are available on the book's Companion Website and indicated in the text margin by an icon

Selections from both Iliad and Odyssey, made with an eye for those episodes that figure most prominently in the study of mythology.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1865. Translated into English Verse in the Spenserian Stanza.