The Iliad
Homer
Standard Ebooks
star
16 reviews
Ebook
655
Pages
Tools
info
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
The Iliad is one of the oldest works of Western literature, dating back to classical antiquity. Homer’s epic poem belongs in a collection called the Epic Cycle, which includes the Odyssey. Written in an early literary dialect of ancient Greek, both poems were originally composed in dactylic hexameters. This meter is beautiful in the original but can sound awkward in modern English; Eric McMillan humorously described it as resembling “pumpkins rolling on a barn floor.” In the translation presented here, William Cullen Bryant avoids the problem by using iambic pentameter, a more familiar meter for verse in English.
This epic poem begins with the Achaean army sacking the city of Chryse and capturing two maidens as prizes of war. One of the maidens, Chryseis, is given to Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaeans, and the other maiden, Briseis, was given to the army’s best warrior, Achilles. Chryseis’ father, the city’s priest, prays to the god Apollo and asks for a plague on the Achaean army. To stop this plague, Agamemnon returns Chryseis to her father, but then orders Achilles to give him Briseis as compensation. Achilles refuses.
This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.
The Iliad is one of the oldest works of Western literature, dating back to classical antiquity. Homer’s epic poem belongs in a collection called the Epic Cycle, which includes the Odyssey. Written in an early literary dialect of ancient Greek, both poems were originally composed in dactylic hexam...
Discover more
Ratings and reviews
16 reviews
Scott Hoit
- Flag inappropriate
May 9, 2026
Well, I would just say the Iliad is obviously the best book ever in Western Civilization and this is beautifully translated. It's a masterpiece and very descriptive of the human amazement of our physical and spiritual worlds. To think about what people could have been doing around the bronze age collapse and into Homer's time is amazing to me. It's one of humanities stories of trying to find our place among earthly and celestial triumphs and cataclysms.
behrouz yaghmaeian
- Flag inappropriate
September 6, 2026
مادر هرچی ایرانیه سگ گایید تنظیمات گوشی منو عوض نکن بیناموس فیس بوک و اینستاگرام من کو من اجازه ندادم به‌گوگل به اس ام اس و کالم دسترسی داشته باشه خونه زندگی من کو کس مادرا من دارو نمیخوام‌خونه میخوام پول میخوام کارای کیریتون با صاحب کارای کیریتون و نمیخوام مادر سگ اگه آدم دوست و خونواده و وطن داشته باشه تو خیابون نمیخوابه بهش دارو بدن بیناموس تو خیابون دوای کیر و خایه بهش نمیدن موقع رانندگی بهش دارو نمیدن آدم دوست و خونواده دار یه شب بیرون میخوابه نه یه سال یه کار عوض میکنه نه صدتا
Arturo Sanchez
- Flag inappropriate
October 9, 2026
excelente
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
