The Iliad and The Odyssey Set (2 Volumes) (Hardcover)

Author Homer · Publisher Soop · Published 2010-07-15 · ISBN 9788991290303

About the Book

because his voice resonated.
Homer's influence was not limited to Greece. His language and techniques became the model for European epic poetry...
Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," resonating clearly into the ancient sky!

Homer's two great epics, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," are mystifyingly excellent for works considered humanity's oldest literary creations, stories read by mankind for thousands of years. One wonders who taught Homer such that he could leave behind such magnificent works for posterity. There were no predecessors for him to emulate, and at some point, his songs resonated clearly into the ancient sky.
Homer's influence was not confined to Greece. His language and techniques served as a model for European epic poetry, profoundly impacting Latin literature, then European literature, and further, European culture as a whole. "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" are foundational works of Western culture, the origin of the cultural wealth built layer upon layer upon them, and works that reveal the spiritual source sustaining their lives.
Comprising 15,693 lines across 24 books, "The Iliad" (Ilias) is derived from "Ilios," the royal city of the Trojans where the Trojan War took place, and means "the story of Ilios." It encapsulates the tragic fate of the Greek and Trojan armies carrying out the Trojan War according to divine will, that is, human insights into war, life, and death. Its rich content and beautiful structure mean that Westerners still frequently quote and allude to anecdotes from this work.
Set against the backdrop of the legendary Trojan War, it recounts the events of 50 days, focusing not so much on the war itself but on how the wrath of the brave warrior Achilles began, how he expressed it, and ultimately how that wrath was resolved.
With the motif of "wrath," the poet addresses the tragic fate of individuals that humanity has always been interested in, and the unavoidable problem of death for all humans. Weaving the passionate human heart and life as warp and weft, he speaks of the essence of human life. The destiny of death is uniquely human, and humans, conscious of this fate, still engage in the battle of life. Without presupposing death, the human condition, the essence of human life, cannot be revealed.
Achilles is a possessor of generous and delicate humanity, through whom various talents and dispositions that humans can possess are intensely expressed. Zeus embodies the authoritative monarch, Hector represents the ideal husband, Andromache the ideal wise wife, Achilles the model of a passionate and fearless young warrior, and Odysseus appears as a meticulous strategist and mediator of disputes. It can be called a blockbuster of destiny featuring characters who typically embody the diverse aspects of human life.
Homer, who taught the way to become an excellent human being!
"The Odyssey" (the song of "Odysseus") tells the story ten years after the fall of Troy. Odysseus, the Greek hero who devised the "Trojan Horse" and led them to victory, has been wandering for ten years after the war, unable to return home. In his homeland, his beautiful wife Penelope awaits him, surrounded by a throng of suitors who, believing Odysseus dead, press her for marriage and consume his wealth. However, Odysseus's journey home is a continuous series of adventures, wanderings, and travels filled with hardships and trials. The various adventures he experiences until he returns home—his adversaries are no longer the Trojan army but the endless vast sea and rough waves, the man-eating one-eyed giant Cyclops, the Sirens who lure sailors with their sweet songs, Circe who feeds humans magic potions and turns them into pigs with her magic wand—and his wanderings and travels to numerous cities. This is the central content of this epic. As he passes through these, Odysseus and his counterparts constantly test and evaluate each other's understanding and discernment. Thus, Odysseus learns that there are many societies and many minds. His adventures symbolize the adventures one experiences as a human, a journey toward the essence of human life that one must understand to be called human.

Table of Contents

Iliad

Notes to the Reader
Translator's Preface

Book 1 The Plague—The Wrath of Achilles
Book 2 Agamemnon's Dream—The Catalogue of Ships
Book 3 The Oaths—The View from the Walls—The Duel of Paris and Menelaus
Book 4 The Breaking of the Oaths—Agamemnon's Review
Book 5 The Aristeia of Diomedes
Book 6 The Meeting of Hector and Andromache
Book 7 The Duel of Hector and Ajax—The Burial of the Dead
Book 8 The Interruption of Battle
Book 9 The Embassy to Achilles—The Supplication
Book 10 The Doloneia
Book 11 The Aristeia of Agamemnon
Book 12 Fighting Around the Wall
Book 13 Fighting Around the Ships
Book 14 Zeus Deceived
Book 15 The Achaeans Driven Back from the Ships
Book 16 The Death of Patroclus
Book 17 The Aristeia of Menelaus
Book 18 The Making of the Arms
Book 19 Achilles Reconciles with Agamemnon
Book 20 The Battle of the Gods
Book 21 Battle by the River
Book 22 The Death of Hector
Book 23 Funeral Games for Patroclus
Book 24 Hector's Body Ransomed

Appendix Notes
Principal Characters
Principal Deities
Principal Places
Genealogy of Principal Gods and Heroes
Commentary / Homer's Works and World
Bibliography
Index
Maps


Odyssey

Preface
Notes to the Reader

Book 1 After the Council of the Gods, Athena Encourages Telemachus
Book 2 The Assembly of the Ithacans / Telemachus's Departure
Book 3 Events in Pylos
Book 4 Events in Lacedaemon
Book 5 Calypso's Cave / Odysseus's Raft
Book 6 Odysseus Arrives in the Land of the Phaeacians
Book 7 Odysseus Goes to Alcinous
Book 8 Odysseus Stays in the Land of the Phaeacians
Book 9 Odysseus's Tales / The Story of the Cyclops
Book 10 Aeolus / The Laestrygonians / Circe
Book 11 The Underworld
Book 12 The Sirens / Scylla / Charybdis / The Cattle of Helios
Book 13 Odysseus Leaves the Land of the Phaeacians and Arrives in Ithaca
Book 14 Odysseus Visits Eumaeus
Book 15 Telemachus Goes to Eumaeus
Book 16 Telemachus Recognizes Odysseus
Book 17 Telemachus Returns to the City
Book 18 The Boxing Match with Irus
Book 19 Odysseus Converses with Penelope / The Foot-Washing
Book 20 Events Before the Killing of the Suitors
Book 21 The Bow
Book 22 Odysseus Kills the Suitors
Book 23 Penelope Recognizes Odysseus
Book 24 Sequel in the Underworld / The Oath

Appendix Commentary / Homer's Works and World
Principal Characters
Principal Deities
Principal Places
Genealogy of Principal Gods and Heroes
Notes
Bibliography
Index