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The Iliad Hardcover – September 26, 2023

by Homer (Author), Emily Wilson (Translator)

885 ratings

#1 Best Seller in Ancient & Classical Poetry

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One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2023 • A Washington Post Best Book of the Year 2023 • One of Atlantic's Best Books of 2023 • One of Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 • One of New Statesman's 2023 Books of the Year • One of Electric Literature's Best Poetry Collections of 2023

The greatest literary landmark of antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our time.

When Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017―revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom 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.

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 the gods’ grand schemes beyond the ken of mortals. In Wilson’s hands, this thrilling, magical, and often horrifying tale now gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes, in crisp but resonant language that evokes the poem’s deep pathos and reveals palpably real, even “complicated,” characters―both human and divine.

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.

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A Millions Most Anticipated Book of 2023

	The Odyssey	The Iliad

Customer Reviews	5,621	885
Price	$16.49	$28.93
	A lean, fleet-footed translation that recaptures Homer’s “nimble gallop” and brings an ancient epic to new life.	The greatest literary landmark of antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad brings Homer’s great war story to rousing new life….propulsive….buoyant and expressive."
― Natalie Haynes, New York Times Book Review

"Readable, relevant and from the heart, this is the Iliad we have all been waiting for, whether we knew it or not."
― Naoíse Mac Sweeney, Washington Post

"Masterful…A bloody tale of ancient war and grief comes to vibrant life in modern-day English. Wilson has again presented a Homer that sings."
― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Back Cover

Praise for Emily Wilson’s Odyssey

“If Wilson’s version has an English model, it is the moving plainness of Matthew Arnold’s ‘Sohrab and Rustum.’… Though he never produced a translation himself, I think [Arnold] would have recognized his Homer―a poet ‘eminently rapid… eminently plain and direct’―in Wilson’s.”
―Gregory Hays, New York Times Book Review

“[Wilson] preserves the musicality of Homer’s poetry, opting for an iambic pentameter whose approachable storytelling tone invites us in, only to startle us with eruptions of beauty.… Wilson’s transformation of such a familiar and foundational work is… astonishing.”
―Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Atlantic

“In the history of Odyssey translations, few have exerted such a cultural influence that they become ‘classics’ in their own right.… I predict that Emily Wilson will win a place in this roll-call of the most significant translations of the poem in history. She certainly deserves the honour.”
―Edith Hall, Daily Telegraph

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 26, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 848 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1324001801
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1324001805
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.7 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #12,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Ancient & Classical Poetry
- #1 in Epic Poetry (Books)
- #178 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
885 ratings

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Homer
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Homer was probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives.
He was one of a long line of bards, or poets, who worked in the oral tradition. Homer and other bards of the time could recite, or chant, long epic poems. Both works attributed to Homer - The Iliad and The Odyssey - are over ten thousand lines long in the original. Homer must have had an amazing memory but was helped by the formulaic poetry style of the time.
In The Iliad Homer sang of death and glory, of a few days in the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Mortal men played out their fate under the gaze of the gods. The Odyssey is the original collection of tall traveller's tales. Odysseus, on his way home from the Trojan War, encounters all kinds of marvels from one-eyed giants to witches and beautiful temptresses. His adventures are many and memorable before he gets back to Ithaca and his faithful wife Penelope.
We can never be certain that both these stories belonged to Homer. In fact 'Homer' may not be a real name but a kind of nickname meaning perhaps 'the hostage' or 'the blind one'. Whatever the truth of their origin, the two stories, developed around three thousand years ago, may well still be read in three thousand years' time.
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Emily R. Wilson
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Emily Wilson grew up in Oxford, UK, and studied Classics at Balliol College, and English Literature at Corpus Christi College. Her PhD. is from Yale in Classics and Comparative Literature. She is currently a Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is interested in literature, story-telling and how ideas and culture play out through narrative and in words, and in the music of language. She cares about poetry, drama and philosophy of all eras, especially ancient Greek, Roman and early modern. She has written books on tragedy and "overliving", the long afterlife of the death of Socrates, and a life of Seneca. She has also done several verse translations of classical verse drama and epic, including Seneca's tragedies, four plays of Euripides, and Homer's Odyssey.
Her approach to translation is discussed here: http://poems.com/special_features/prose/essay_wilson_odyssey.php
Profiled here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/magazine/the-first-woman-to-translate-the-odyssey-into-english.html
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Customers find this translation of The Iliad to be absolutely incredible, with one noting its vivid yet precise language and another describing it as flowing in contemporary English. The book is easy to understand and can be read for fun, with one customer highlighting the informative introduction and notes. They appreciate its intense emotional content, length, and pacing, with one review noting how it retains nuance while keeping vivid imagery.

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41 customers mention "Translation quality"41 positive0 negative

Customers praise the translation of the Iliad, finding it absolutely incredible and very readable, with one customer noting how it flows in contemporary English.

"...The language is vivid yet precise, capturing the raw intensity of battle, the complexities of honor, and the tragic fates of warriors and kin." Read more

"...It didn't feel like verse and it felt very easy to avoid the singsong of carelessly read rhymed verse - but it was striking how reading the verse..." Read more

"This translation is easy to read and flows exceptionally well. I am enjoying it immensely and will be reading more of her works in the future." Read more

"...(a great introduction, interesting translator's notes, maps, and glossary)..." Read more

22 customers mention "Readability"22 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a wonderful and interesting read that can be enjoyed for fun, with one customer noting that the notes and commentary are well worth reading.

"...for the Iliad over the Odyssey, but her Iliad is a vital, powerful story told in language that probably does feel as natural and unaffected to a..." Read more

"The Iliad is a hard sell. The Odyssey is a great yarn while The Iliad is about death. The Odyssey is an adventure, a journey, the guy gets the girl...." Read more

"...it in school many years ago and transformed it into one which is fascinating both as a narrative and historical artifact...." Read more

"...the summaries at the end, and as importantly making the book actually enjoyable to read...." Read more

6 customers mention "Introduction"6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the introduction of the book, with one noting its informative content and another highlighting its relevance to modern times.

"...to her preference for the Iliad over the Odyssey, but her Iliad is a vital, powerful story told in language that probably does feel as natural and..." Read more

"...(a great introduction, interesting translator's notes, maps, and glossary)..." Read more

"...It is a joy to read, and the introduction and notes are most informative and interesting. It is an exciting read!" Read more

"...Now in my 30’s rereading this epic there are many life lessons that are highlighted within the book...." Read more

3 customers mention "Emotional content"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the emotional intensity of the book.

"...She brings Homer’s epic to life with clarity, power, and emotional depth, making it both readable and deeply resonant...." Read more

"...she calls in her Translator’s Note (page lxvii) the Iliad’s “intense emotional and poetic power.”..." Read more

"...all the sensory details vividly expressed, and the sense of anger and grief is deeply felt like no other translation of the poem...." Read more

3 customers mention "Length"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the length of the book, with one mentioning the extensive notes section and another noting the detailed summaries at the end.

"...Her notes section is very lengthy and detailed. Wilson meticulously goes through each chapter explaining numerous facts, points, ect...." Read more

"...MAGNIFICENT job she did with this book - the introduction, the summaries at the end, and as importantly making the book actually enjoyable to read...." Read more

"Outstanding translation, introductory material and annotations...." Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, with one noting how it retains nuance and keeps vivid imagery, while another mentions its plain style.

"This is an excellent translation which keeps the vivid imagery and the meter of the original." Read more

"...The language is immediate and straightforward while retaining nuance. Her translation of Odyssey gave me goosebumps...." Read more

"...A loose tetrameter, mostly? Plain and direct--or accessible, the current word of praise--: yes it is. So is the speech of the average freshman...." Read more

3 customers mention "Power"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the power of the book, with one describing it as overwhelming.

"...She brings Homer’s epic to life with clarity, power, and emotional depth, making it both readable and deeply resonant...." Read more

"...And everybody knows it. Except The Iliad is too powerful, too good, too cinematic not to read, and reread once in a while...." Read more

"...It is pulsing with energy on every page, cinematic, and overwhelming in its power...." Read more

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Simi Ramdutt
A Masterful and Accessible Translation
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2025
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Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad is nothing short of breathtaking. She brings Homer’s epic to life with clarity, power, and emotional depth, making it both readable and deeply resonant. The language is vivid yet precise, capturing the raw intensity of battle, the complexities of honor, and the tragic fates of warriors and kin.

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Jon Shemitz
A wonderful, fluid translation
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
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I read the whole thing aloud. I didn't quite mean to: I read the preface and book 1 the night it arrived, and said to my sweetie 'She urges us to read this aloud, and I probably will inflict bits on you. Hmm. Maybe I should just start over and read the whole thing aloud [the way we did with Circe].' So I did.

I'm sure I'll have to read it again - silently - but imho the read aloud did add to the experience. It didn't feel like verse and it felt very easy to avoid the singsong of carelessly read rhymed verse - but it was striking how reading the verse aloud made it very obvious when I transposed words or misread names.

Wilson got our attention with her Odyssey which eschewed euphemisms like "housekeeper" or "attendant" and called a slave a slave. That was an amazing translation, and this is a thoroughly worthy successor. She does not convert me to her preference for the Iliad over the Odyssey, but her Iliad is a vital, powerful story told in language that probably does feel as natural and unaffected to a modern audience as the original Greek felt to the original audiences. Eyeballs pop, brains jelly, gods and kings bicker - this is no more a guide to how to live well than its rough contemporary from Palestine, but a heck of a lot more fun to read.

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38 people found this helpful

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Anon.
Great translation
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2025
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This translation is easy to read and flows exceptionally well. I am enjoying it immensely and will be reading more of her works in the future.

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John Hamer, Jr.
The Iliad: Come for the Blood, Stay for the Poetry
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2023
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The Iliad is a hard sell. The Odyssey is a great yarn while The Iliad is about death. The Odyssey is an adventure, a journey, the guy gets the girl. While in the Iliad everybody dies. Not just on the plains in front of Troy: everybody, everywhere. We are all interchangeable to the folks on Olympus. And everybody knows it. Except The Iliad is too powerful, too good, too cinematic not to read, and reread once in a while. In either event--reading for the first time or returning to it after years (like Odysseus, maybe?)--read Emily Wilson's new translation of the Iliad. And while you're reading it, every so often stop and read ten or twelve lines aloud, savor Wilson's poetry, get caught up in the churning power of her cadence, weep with Andromache, or scoff at Artemis. Sure the apparatus worthy of an important scholarly and artistic accomplishment is present (a great introduction, interesting translator's notes, maps, and glossary) and certainly Wilson makes amazing and discussible decisions, but just for a while, before it happens to you, relish reading something great. Because while we can stand to the side and watch, detached, Odysseus, deal with the suitors and cheer, we are all involved in The Iliad.

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62 people found this helpful

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Lashanti Jones
Easy to read and understand!
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2024
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This is my first time ever reading the Iliad, though I already knew the story extremely well. I think it was because I knew the story well, but had not read the Iliad, a lot of confusion arose on certain parts of the story. One example is when Agamemnon is trying to appease Achilles. He offers Achilles numerous gifts including one of his three daughters, Chrysothemis, Iphianassa and Laodice. I found it odd that Agamemnon included Iphianassa when she is supposed to be dead at this point. But Wilson clarified and explained a few differences, contradictions, and errors in her notes section at the end of the book. She explained that in Homer, the sacrifice/murder of Iphigenia is not included. Her notes section is very lengthy and detailed. Wilson meticulously goes through each chapter explaining numerous facts, points, ect. Each chapter is also summarized and tied into the notes section.

I do believe this translation of the Iliad is a bit longer than the others because Wilson really broke down the story so that it was easily understood as you read. You didn’t have to stop and reread a passage and think over what something meant before continuing on. It was pretty easy to read and I’m very pleased I choose this translation to be my first translation to read. You can tell Wilson put a lot of care and thought into her translation and it was much appreciated.

*Also a pronunciation section is included at the end along with a few genealogies. That pronunciation guide was incredibly helpful, the names that begin with Ep and Ph usually trip me up really bad.

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29 people found this helpful

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North Cali
Great fiction
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2025
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Received promptly. Still working my way through the content

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guitarlover
Good Translation
Reviewed in Australia on March 16, 2025
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Good English translation into modern Iambic Pentameter verse.

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Kristian
Beautiful and accessible
Reviewed in Germany on October 7, 2024
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Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad is a real gem. The language is accomplished yet very accessible. For someone slightly intimidated by reading Homer in its full unabridged length, this is a very good choice. Although long, the Iliad is always entertaining. Its colourful characters and drama (including the never-ending interference of the gods) pulls you in, and along. Nordon’s hardcover edition is of good quality. A keeper.

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Waterman
Excelente tradução (para o inglês)
Reviewed in Brazil on November 26, 2024
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Deus sabe quantas vezes eu tentei ler a Ilíada e não consegui passar de duas centenas de versos. Esta tradução de Emily Watson é magnífica. Mas, o que não entendo é como uma obra que só fala de guerra, mortes violentas, agressões, estupros, pode ser considerada uma grande obra de arte. Este é um desafio que minha imaginação não vence. Que espécie é esta, que se diz humana? E como é possível que uma pessoa sensível e inteligente dedique anos de sua vida a produzir uma tradução impecável de um livro tão horrífico. Será que intelectuais têm uma paixão secreta pela violência barbárica? Ou será que o problema é nossa espécie, um erro grosseiro da evolução, que quanto mais cedo se auto-extinguir, tanto melhor para o Universo e os outros seres vivos?

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C’est la 2ème commande qui arrive avec la moitié des recharges cassées
Annonce parfaite
Reviewed in France on March 5, 2025
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Indemne comme sur la photo excellent achat.

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James M
Engaging and readable translation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2025
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Brilliant and engaging translation. Very accessible.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful and Accessible Translation

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, fluid translation

5.0 out of 5 stars Great translation

5.0 out of 5 stars The Iliad: Come for the Blood, Stay for the Poetry

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read and understand!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fiction

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5.0 out of 5 stars Good Translation

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and accessible

5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente tradução (para o inglês)

5.0 out of 5 stars Annonce parfaite

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and readable translation

A Masterful and Accessible Translation

A wonderful, fluid translation

Great translation

The Iliad: Come for the Blood, Stay for the Poetry

Easy to read and understand!

Great fiction

Good Translation

Beautiful and accessible

Excelente tradução (para o inglês)

Annonce parfaite

Engaging and readable translation