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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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About this listen

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.
Epic Poetry Ancient History Ancient Greece
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What listeners say about The Iliad

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Overwhelming

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.

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The bright eyed goddess of translation does it again.

What a joy to listen to, as was originally intended, and to read along to this translation. Old age had almost devoured me before I came to these texts, The Odyssey and The Iliad. I cannot thank Emily Wilson enough for bringing them to life so vividly.

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Smooth

Very good narration by the actor and a very readable and smooth translation by Emily.

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The best reading of the Iliad ever

Emily Wilsons translation makes the Iliad come alive and easy to read and listen to.

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Incredible Translation and Performance

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

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The Great Epic

The beautiful precise and sonorous language which attempts to replicate the auditory experience of the first audiences.

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