The Iliad

A cornerstone of Western literature, Homer's Iliad is the epic tale of the siege of Troy. After nine years, the Greeks are still fighting to reclaim the beautiful Helen and it is hardly the time for their supreme warrior, Achilles, to drop out of the war. But he does, in revenge against the overlord Agamemnon for seizing his concubine, Briseis. Only the death of his best friend, Patroclus, persuades Achilles to return to battle and confront the Trojan leader Hector in single combat. This edition features an accessible prose translation by the classical scholar and novelist Samuel Butler, first published in 1898.