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The Iliad

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The Iliad

By: Homer, Emily Wilson - translator
Narrated by: Audra McDonald
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2024 Audie Award Winner for Literary Fiction & Classics

When Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017―rendering the ancient poem in contemporary language 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.

Brought to life in vivid audio form, this crisp verse translation of 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 deities’ grand schemes beyond the ken of mortals.

Wilson’s musical iambic pentameter verse is brought to life in the evocative voice of narrator and Broadway legend Audra McDonald. In her thrilling reading, this magical and often horrifying tale gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes. 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Emily Wilson (Translation) (P)2023 Audible, Inc.
Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature Epic Poetry Themes & Styles Ancient History Ancient Greece
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Continue the series

The Iliad cover art
The Iliad By: Homer, and others
The Odyssey cover art
The Odyssey By: Homer
The Odyssey cover art
The Odyssey By: Homer, and others
The Odyssey cover art
The Odyssey By: Homer, and others
All stars
Most relevant
Emily Wilson's new modern translation of the Illiad is a counterpart to her earlier new Odyssey. Claire Danes did that performance and it was excellent. Alas, Audra McDonald is less good. The narration segments are fine but the voices of the characters have little nuance or distinction between them and she get very shouty too often. It's a very hard gig to play all the characters and it got more and more irritating and distracting from the Wilson version of the story as it went on.

Great translation, disappointing performance

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If you can adjust / set aside some of the expectations of our current culture you’ll be rewarded by an astonishing combination of the familiarly human, narrative suspense, surprising twists, pity, rage, existential angst, bleak ruthless savagery, grief and celebration of beauty in the world and in art.
I love the Lattimore translation and highly recommend that too. But this was fresh, vivid and modern in sound.
Audra McDonald’s performance brings the characters to life with a terrific range of tone and feeling.

Overwhelming

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so masterfully done, great narration, a story that never gets old. shame it's only available on audible but oh well, well worth it.

phenomenal translation

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Totally electrifying. Loved every second. Truly brought Homer to life. The grief is so potent and powerful.

Incredible Translation and Performance

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A great story which was translated well, giving great depth to the story. However, narration is overly theatrical and it makes for difficult listening when driving or trying to relax as the volume is high & low, whispered and shouts. This didn’t work for me, but appreciate this might work for others in different settings.

Great story, difficult narration

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