Includes bibliographical references (p. 635-637)

The spelling and pronunciation of Homeric names -- Maps: Mainland Greece -- Peloponnese -- Aegean and Asia minor -- Troy and vicinity -- Homer: Iliad -- The rage of Achilles -- The great gathering of Armies -- Helen reviews the champions -- The truce erupts in war -- Diomedes fights the gods -- Hector returns to Troy -- Ajax duels with Hector -- The tide of battle turns -- The embassy of Achilles -- Marauding through the night -- Agamemnon's day of glory -- The Trojans storm the rampart -- Battling for the ships -- Hera outflanks Zeus -- The Achaean armies the bay -- Patroclus fights and dies -- Menelaus' finest hour -- The shield of Achilles -- The champion arms for battle -- Olympian gods in arms -- Achilles fights the river -- The death of Hector -- Funeral games for Patroclus -- Achilles and Priam -- The genealogy of the royal house of Troy

The centuries old epic about the wrath of Achilles is rendered into modern English verse by a renowned translator and accompanied by an introduction that reassesses the identity of Homer. In Robert Fagles' beautifully rendered text, the Iliad overwhelms us afresh. The huge themes godlike, yet utterly human of savagery and calculation, of destiny defied, of triumph and grief compel our own humanity. Time after time, one pauses and re-reads before continuing. Fagles' voice is always that of a poet and scholar of our own age as he conveys the power of Homer. Robert Fagles and Bernard Knox are to be congratulated and praised on this admirable work