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War That Killed Achilles, The: The True Story Of Homer's Iliad And The Trojan War (2009)

by Caroline Alexander(Favorite Author)

3.77 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

142339920X (ISBN13: 9781423399209)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Brilliance Audio

review 1: The Iliad has long been my favorite book, but I had never regarded it as an anti-war story—until now. This is Dr. Alexander’s contention, and I think she has proved it. The major points I derived from reading is Achilles’ questioning of having to go to war for a cause not his personal own: “I for my part did not come here for the sake of the Trojan spearmen to fight against them, since to me they have done nothing….”; the ardent willingness of the Achaeans to quit the war on Agamemnon’s ill-considered bluff; the Achaeans’ hopes for a real conclusion in the combat between Menelaus and Paris; the graphic details of soldiers’ deaths and short sketches of their lives (such as their wealth, homes or families left behind); and Achilles’ choice of departing fo... morer home and his aged father over glory. There’s more, and the book was a fascinating read on a favorite subject. The footnotes are scholarly and many are over my mere mortal compass. I doubt she intended doing so, but this book also refutes much recent fiction depicting Achilles as a petulant savage. He, and all soldiers, become the tragic hero of the tale.
review 2: I have always wanted to study the Iliad and the Odyssey, but I never have read either epic tale.So I was a bit surprised to find myself utterly and completely riveted listening to Caroline Alexander explain, book by book, the Illiad and her interpretation of it as an anti-war epic. It would be interesting to get a sense of how in-step (or out-of-step) her interpretation is with respect to that of other scholars. But even if hers is not strictly mainstream, her explanation of the Illiad with historical and cultural context, pointing out what makes many scenes important or pivotal, was such a pleasure to read. I listened to it while also reading the Iliad itself and a modern (partly imagined) telling of the story of Patroclus and Achilles by Madeline Miller. It is Alexander who, for me, brings the drama and pathos of the Iliad to life. less

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