A Companion to the Iliad

by Malcolm M. Willcock

Book Overview

Those who are able to read Homer in Greek have ample recourse to commentaries, but the vast majority who read the Iliad in translation have not been so well served--the many available translations contain few, if any, notes. For these readers, Malcolm M. Willcock provides a line-by-line commentary that explains the many factual details, mythological allusions, and Homeric conventions that a student or general reader could not be expected to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226898555
• ISBN13: 9780226898551
• Release Date: May 1976
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Companion to the Iliad by M M Willcock

Malcolm M Willcock's brilliant "Companion" is based on Lattimore's translation which follows the Greek translation line by line; making Lattimore's translation closest to what Homer intended. An example of Willcock's notes: "angry arrows" were usually dipped in poison. Between Lattimore and Wilcock, it took me three months (two to three hours a day) to read the 24 Books of "The Iliad." [Yes, I am a slow reader.] This intense immersion may not be for everyone. But, trust me, the compliment is well-deserved.

Unreserved Praise for Wilcock's Helpful Guide

I have used this handy guide for over twenty years. I just had to get another one because I gave my first copy to the teacher who replaced me when I retired. It is keyed to the Lattimore translation of the Iliad, and addresses many scholarly and linguistic issues that can be problems when teaching the epic. The first-time reader of Homer can profit from the book as well, but its primary value seems to be for the teacher or the advanced student.

Thorough commentary

Though not for the impatient, this companion to Lattimore's translation of the Iliad is quite accessible to the non-specialist. Difficult passages are explained by making reference to archaelogical and linguistic evidence, other ancient texts (including the scholia and the Odyssey), and recent research on the transmission of oral literature. The reader is thus better able to place this seminal literary work in its proper context. Willcox helps us understand the cultural, political and human forces that shaped the Iliad during the centuries it was an oral poem, and the slight variations it probably underwent once committed to the written word. Overall, an outstanding work of scholarship.