7/5/2023 0 Comments Iliad and the odyssey book![]() Arabic scholars translated the texts in premedieval times, and Dante plopped Homer in hell. ![]() Shakespeare, apparently unfamiliar with them, took Troilus and Cressida from non-Homeric sources. Early Christians attempted to extract religious principles from the texts. Plato, Aristotle, Virgil and others, the author avers, felt the epics’ powerful influence. Then he marches through intellectual history. After a brief, book-by-book summary of each epic-a delight for dilatory high-school students who haven’t prepared for class-he offers a few pages (there can be no more) of speculation about Homer’s identity. ![]() Using principally Robert Fagles’s translations (“among the best and most graceful”), with some kind words for Alexander Pope’s efforts as well, Manguel walks us through the centuries with Odysseus, Achilles, Penelope et al. ![]() Nor, it seems, do we know much about the composition of The Iliad and The Odyssey, both attributed to him though it’s evident they were assembled by a person or persons from a variety of oral sources. ![]() “We don’t know anything about Homer,” bluntly declares prolific polymath Manguel ( A Reading Diary: A Passionate Reader’s Reflections on a Year of Books, 2004, etc.). Brief but rich history of a mysterious bard and two wondrous works that serve as foundation stones for Western culture. ![]()
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