Homer's Iliad Resource Guide and Course Home
Lectures, Podcasts, Translations, Books, and Articles
The list of resources / links below is not by any means exhaustive. They are things that I’ve either found helpful or that others have recommended to me about Homer’s Iliad. Please leave comments recommending other sources!
I. MCC’s Lectures (yes, I have to start by recommending my own stuff)
Approaches to Homer: Louise Cowan’s Epic as Cosmopoesis
II. Greek Editions
Chicago Homer An online resource; much easier to look up lines than in Project Perseus.
Willcock’s “red Macmillan” Nice to have all of the Greek with commentary in just two volumes.
Loeb Edition The classic green book with English on one side and Greek on the other.
III. Translations
Richmond Lattimore A literal translation that tries to accurately capture the Greek but admits ahead of time that it can’t capture the poetry.
Robert Fagles One of the most commonly utilized translations that attempts to capture the poetry; some people make fun of it for trying too hard to sound epic.
Caroline Alexander I haven’t read this one yet, but smart friends have informed me that it might be best both in terms of accuracy and in readability.
IV. Online lectures / discussions / podcasts
The New Thinkery A Straussian approach that goes through books 1 and 2. Plenty of helpful observations.
Combat and Classics They have had discussions on Books 1-10 so far. A great booksy approach. They get stronger as the series goes on.
“The Anger of Achilles” lecture by Alex Schulman. This lecture is awesome. Really helped me in my approach to Book One.
“Eros and Cosmos” discussion led by Seemee Ali. Very thoughtful commentary on Book 14 that helps bring out Zeus’ political predicament re succession.
Pierre Grimes A charming old Jungian. His lecture on book 9 was strongly recommended to me; I listened to his lecture on Book 2 and found it to be helpful.
“Homer’s Gods” by Lorraine Pangle.
“Homer and the Foundation of Classical Civilization” by Peter Ahrensdorf.
“Homer and Mapping” by Jenny Strauss Clay. Thinking through how to visualize the Iliad.
V. Scholarly Books / Articles
I’m going to be even less exhaustive here because once you get one of these books / articles you can check their bibliographies.
A Companion to Homer’s Iliad by Malcolm Willcock. This is keyed to Lattimore’s translation so that it can be maximally helpful to the Greekless reader. A great help if you are just getting started with Homer but can also help point out things to more experienced readers.
The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry by Gregory Nagy. A classicist friend tells me that this book is good and that it seeks to recover Homer’s text as unity and not as slapped together by many hands.
The Rise of the Greek Epic by Gilbert Murray. Recommended by a friend.
The Greeks and Greek Civilization by Jacob Burkhardt. Not a book on the Iliad, but has many helpful comments on Homer and is a great book in general on the Greeks.
“Homer’s Contest” by Friedrich Nietzsche. A short essay by a promising young German philologist who captures how alien the aristocratic morality of the Greeks is compared to our own morality. I plan to record a session on this essay.
Epic as Cosmopoesis by Louise Cowan. This is a poetic approach that aims to lay out what is distinctive to the genre of epic. The link here takes you straight to a pdf of the core essay in the volume. I plan to record a session on this essay.
Divine Purpose and Heroic Response in Homer and Vergil by John Alvis. I haven’t read this yet, but his book on Nathaniel Hawthorne is excellent and I saw him give a charming lecture on Shakespeare several years ago.
The Power of Thetis by Laura Slatkin. An imaginative book by a classicist that takes a poetic approach to the poem.
Homeric Moments: Clues to Delight in reading the Odyssey and Iliad by Eva Brann. There are many small chapters here from someone who has taught Homer and the great books for decades. I found her remarks on similes to be first rate.
Achilles and Hector: Homeric Hero by Seth Benardete. A careful reader of the poem who shows how even small details such as epithets are carefully employed. He also lays out what he takes to be the “plot of the Iliad.”
The Soul of the Greeks: An Inquiry by Michael Davis. A student of Benardete covers a wide range of texts but has a concise and helpful presentation on Achilles’ soul.
“The Problem of Providence in Homer’s Iliad” by Alex Priou. He elaborates on Benardete’s inquiry and shows what it is that Achilles’ wrath presupposes. This is also not behind a paywall so you can enjoy its fruits as well as its bibliography.
Lecture Notes by Dustin Gish. A Straussian who has typed out lecture notes; you have to search through his site to find the rest).
Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue by Peter Ahrensdorf. If you liked the lecture linked above then you will find much more of that kind of interpretive work here.
“Wrath and Justice in Homer’s Iliad” by Mark Lutz. Fits in well with the reading proposed by Ahrensdorf. The link takes you straight to a free edition of the essay.
Again, this list is far from exhaustive but something that is exhaustive also threatens to be unhelpful and overwhelming. I am positive that I have left important things out so please bring interesting sources to my attention so that I can add them here.
Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you
Excellent collection of links and info. Always reading to deepen my understanding of the bronze age through Europe and the near east.