The Iliad and The Odyssey
by Homer
Introduction by Michael Dirda, translated by Samuel Butler
Homer's two major epics of Greek antiquity, The Iliad and The Odyssey, tell stories as riveting and important today as when they were written between the eighth and ninth century B.C.
The Iliad is the first and the greatest literary achievement of Greek civilisation. It tells of the siege of Troy by the Greeks, is an unforgettable tale of nations at war and of the courage and compassion heroic soldiers show upon the field of battle. With sensitivity and humanity, Homer 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.
If The Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then The Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life; the story of Greek hero Odysseus and the many marvels and challenges he encounters during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces during his journey home is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
THE ILIAD
Contents
Preface
Principal Personages
The Iliad
THE ODYSSEY
Contents
Preface
Principal Personages
The Odyssey
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Collector’s Hardcover Edition
752 pages. Bonded-leather binding, metallic foiling and embossing to front, back, and spine. Gilt edging, printed endpapers, ribbon bookmark.
ISBN: 978-1-4351-6794-0
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Press, reviews, endorsements
Video: The Occult Meaning of Homer’s Odyssey by The Modern Hermeticist - watch on YouTube here
Article: Homer’s Odyssey as Spiritual Quest by David A. Beardsley for the Harvard Centre for Hellenic Studies - read it here
Article: Spirituality and Homer’s Iliad on Hellenion - read it here
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About the Author
Homer is the name traditionally assigned to the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey; the two major epics of Greek antiquity. Nothing is known of Homer as an individual, and in fact it is a matter of controversy whether a single person can be said to have written both of these epics. Linguistic and historical evidence, however, suggests that the poems were composed in the Greek settlements on the west coast of Asia Minor sometime in the 8th century BC.