An IliadA bold reimagining of our civilization's greatest tale of war, by the author of the acclaimed best seller "Silk." Alessandro Baricco re-creates the siege of Troy through the voices of twenty-one Homeric characters in the narrative idiom of our modern imagination. Sacrificing none of Homer's panoramic scope, Baricco forgoes Homeric detachment and admits us to realms of subjective experience his predecessor never explored. From the return of Chryseis to the burial of Hector, we see through human eyes and feel with human hearts the unforgettable events first recounted almost three thousand years ago--events arranged not by the whims of the gods in this instance but by the dictates of human nature. With Andromache, Patroclus, Priam, and the rest, we are privy to the ghastly confusion of battle, the clamor of princely councils, the intimacies of the bedchamber--until finally only a blind poet is left to recount, secondhand, the awful fall of Ilium. Imbuing the stuff of legend with a startling new relevancy and humanity, Baricco gives us "The" "Iliad" as we have never known it. His transformative achievement is certain to delight and fascinate all readers of Homer's indispensable classic. |
Common terms and phrases
Achaeans Achilles afraid Agamemnon Ajax answered armor arms army arrived arrow asked attack battle beautiful began beside blood body bronze brother brought called carried chariot chest close cried dead death defend Diomedes don't dust earth escape eyes fate father fear fell fight finally fire gates gifts give gods ground hands head heard heart Hector Helen helmet hero honor horses hurled Iliad killed king knew leave lion listen looked loved Menelaus mother never night Odysseus ordered Paris Patroclus plain Priam raised reached remember rose rushed shield shining ships shoulders shouting side sons spear spoke stay stop strength struck sword tears tell tent things thought took trench Trojans Troy turned voice waiting wall warrior women wounded young Zeus