Ranks 14th on The Fictional
100
The following books will introduce you to Achilles, who said
these words in Homer's Iliad (Lattimore trans.)..
To order a book, or for more information, follow the book
title links to Amazon.com,
then return home to browse other
characters. For related books, see Odysseus.
- Homer. The
Iliad of Homer (Robert Fagles, Trans.). New York:
Viking, 1990.
- This widely admired verse translation is in
fast-paced, contemporary English.
- Homer. The
Iliad of Homer (Richmond Lattimore, Trans.). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1987.
- Paperback. This translation in graceful, stately
verse was the standard for many years. It is
still the best choice for anyone who likes his
Homer sounding a bit more ancient.
- Kitto, H. D. F. The
Greeks. London: Penguin, 1991.
- Excellent introduction to Achilles's world.
- Denby, David. Great
Books. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
- The best-selling account of critic Denby's
experiences taking Columbia lit. courses and
becoming reacquainted with the classics. Includes
a marvelous essay, which originally appeared in
the New Yorker as, "Does Homer Have
Legs?"
- Walcott, Derek. Omeros.
New York: Noonday Press/ Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
1990.
- Nobel-prize winning poet Walcott transplants
Achilles (with a large dose of Odysseus mixed in)
to a Caribbean setting in this mesmerizing modern
epic.
- Whitman, Cedric. Homer
and the Heroic Tradition. New York: Norton, 1965.
- See especially chap. IX, "Achilles:
Evolution of a Hero," which shows how
Achilles' "creates" himself in the
course of the Iliad as he learns from
his choices.
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