Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Viking (2009), Edition: 1st Edition, 296 pages
Description
Many have forgotten that the subject of the "Illiad" was war--not merely the poetical romance of the war at Troy, but war, in all its enduring devastation. This groundbreaking reading of Homer's epic poem restores the poet's vision of the tragedy of war, addressing many of the central questions that define the war experience of every age.
Media reviews
Library Journal
Alexander, a professional writer who has been published in Granta, The New Yorker, and National Geographic, holds a Ph.D. in classics from Columbia University. Her new book explores her deep fascination with Homer's Iliad. Essentially, she offers an extended discussion of the plot, elaborating and
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contextualizing it by reference to extant fragments from other epics and other ancient texts and archaeological and historical evidence. She also relates the resonances of The Iliad in the modern world, from Muhammad Ali's refusal to serve in the Vietnam War to the account of an American war widow responding to the death of her husband in Iraq. Verdict Alexander's book is vigorous and deeply learned yet unpedantic. Highly recommended to general readers interested in a full appreciation of the power and the enduring relevance of The Iliad.- Show Less
"She shows that The Iliad is sharply relevant to conflicts of our own day, as well as a key to understanding the distant world of the Bronze Age."
"The War that Killed Achilles is certainly a worthy memorial to Homer's poem: compassionate, urgent and unfailingly stimulating. Yet it is hard to escape a nagging feeling that the image which Alexander sees reflected in the Iliad is too much her own."
The problem with “The War That Killed Achilles” doesn’t lie in Ms. Alexander’s intelligent readings, her combing through the text looking for ambivalence about, or fear and loathing of, war... The problem is that her book is such a dutiful walk-through of Lattimore’s translation. Ms.
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Alexander quotes from, and summarizes, Lattimore’s words so frequently that without them her book would threaten to collapse into a heap of thin if shapely sticks and twigs. Show Less
Choice
Though Alexander (freelance writer) aims this well-written book at general readers, she includes brief discussions of technical issues such as history, archaeology, and linguistics, with frequent footnotes pointing to more detailed accounts. However, her chief goal is to discover "what the Iliad
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says of war." Indeed, by focusing on the character of Achilles and posing questions such as "who is the real enemy?" and "what is the point of (this) war?" she succeeds in making the ancient epic completely relevant for readers only too familiar with current wars. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member gwernin
Reading this book was like attending a series of lectures by a brilliant professor on a topic which has long fascinated you, with no worries about an exam at the end. Alexander's comments on the Iliad add fascinating historical detail on the background of the war and Homer's approach to it, so that
Drawbacks? Personally I like my footnotes at the bottom of the page where I can glance at them as I go, rather than tucked away in the back of the book, but Alexander is hardly alone in this practice. Also, some of the 20th century parallels seemed poorly integrated into the flow of the text, however interesting. (And what about the intervening 2500 years?) On the whole, though, it was an impressive performance, and one I plan to re-read sometime.
Highly recommended for those interested in Homer and/or ancient warfare.
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some parts of the poem will never seem the same to me again. Her supple prose and sure sense of pacing make this an enticing read.Drawbacks? Personally I like my footnotes at the bottom of the page where I can glance at them as I go, rather than tucked away in the back of the book, but Alexander is hardly alone in this practice. Also, some of the 20th century parallels seemed poorly integrated into the flow of the text, however interesting. (And what about the intervening 2500 years?) On the whole, though, it was an impressive performance, and one I plan to re-read sometime.
Highly recommended for those interested in Homer and/or ancient warfare.
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LibraryThing member rmckeown
For many years, I have loved and admired Homer’s Odyssey. I never spent much time soaking up The Iliad, because the war and violence depicted never held much interest for me. However, Alexander’s excellent commentary on The Iliad, has completely changed my view of this great epic.
A professor
My world lit class took up Iliad this semester, and I decided to read this book to add something to the discussion. Not only did I completely enjoy this well-written and thoroughly documented book, but I greatly increased my knowledge of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I now see these two foundations of western literature as mirror images of each other, as well as complimentary windows into the worlds of the Achaeans and Trojans.
The Odyssey focuses on one main male character with a host of interesting, alluring, and powerful women. I have always loved the stories of Kalypso, Circe, and Nausicaa – not to forget “the grey-eyed Goddess, Athena. The Iliad, on the other hand centers on three women – Helen of Greece, Andromache, the wife of Hector, and Breseis, cousin of Hector. The rest of the women are all in the background, and Achilles and many warriors and kings provide important elements that move the plot.
In addition to Achilles strong anti-war stance, his anger at Agamemnon’s seizure of Breseis – a prize he won in the initial battle before the walls of Troy -- provides the dramatic conflict which threatens the invading army of Acheans.
Alexander also draws some interesting parallels with the 20th century. Achilles says,
“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.
Never yet have they driven away my cattle or my horses,
never in Phthia where the soil is rich and men grow great did they
spoil my harvest, since indeed there is much that lies between us,
the shadowy mountains and the echoing sea” (20).
Alexander then quotes the words of Muhammad Ali when he refused to submit to the draft, claiming the Viet Cong had never done him any harm (21).
Throughout the book, Alexander highlights the absurdity of war, and even though the men fight for glory, Homer tells us there is no glory in dying. She brings home the real lessons of war. She describes what Achilles believes, “Life is more precious than glory; this is the unheroic truth disclosed by the greatest warrior at Troy… glory…is achieved through heroic poetry, in other words, through epic” (98).
This book belongs on my desert island shelf along with my copies of The Odyssey and The Iliad. 5 stars
--Jim, 3/2/12
A professor
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once said, “There is only one story, and that is The Odyssey. All other stories flow from it.” At first, I thought this implausible, but the more I read, the more parallels I began to notice. Joseph Campbell’s monumental work The Hero with a Thousand Faces enlightened me further – not only to The Odyssey, but to many other pieces of literature from all cultures and time periods.My world lit class took up Iliad this semester, and I decided to read this book to add something to the discussion. Not only did I completely enjoy this well-written and thoroughly documented book, but I greatly increased my knowledge of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I now see these two foundations of western literature as mirror images of each other, as well as complimentary windows into the worlds of the Achaeans and Trojans.
The Odyssey focuses on one main male character with a host of interesting, alluring, and powerful women. I have always loved the stories of Kalypso, Circe, and Nausicaa – not to forget “the grey-eyed Goddess, Athena. The Iliad, on the other hand centers on three women – Helen of Greece, Andromache, the wife of Hector, and Breseis, cousin of Hector. The rest of the women are all in the background, and Achilles and many warriors and kings provide important elements that move the plot.
In addition to Achilles strong anti-war stance, his anger at Agamemnon’s seizure of Breseis – a prize he won in the initial battle before the walls of Troy -- provides the dramatic conflict which threatens the invading army of Acheans.
Alexander also draws some interesting parallels with the 20th century. Achilles says,
“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.
Never yet have they driven away my cattle or my horses,
never in Phthia where the soil is rich and men grow great did they
spoil my harvest, since indeed there is much that lies between us,
the shadowy mountains and the echoing sea” (20).
Alexander then quotes the words of Muhammad Ali when he refused to submit to the draft, claiming the Viet Cong had never done him any harm (21).
Throughout the book, Alexander highlights the absurdity of war, and even though the men fight for glory, Homer tells us there is no glory in dying. She brings home the real lessons of war. She describes what Achilles believes, “Life is more precious than glory; this is the unheroic truth disclosed by the greatest warrior at Troy… glory…is achieved through heroic poetry, in other words, through epic” (98).
This book belongs on my desert island shelf along with my copies of The Odyssey and The Iliad. 5 stars
--Jim, 3/2/12
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LibraryThing member hmessing
If I knew about this book previously, I would have read it and the actual Illiad at the same time (alternating a chapter in this book with the corresponding chapter(s) in the Illiad. When you read the Illiad, particularly the first time, you miss so much. Ms. Alexander makes sure you don't miss
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anything. She explains and expands upon all the references that are important. Most importantly and dramatically, she sets the scene and mood for the actual story. It sounds trite to say but true nonetheless, the story comes alive with her narrative. At the same time, she opines on what it must have been like hearing this as a Greek of old. Well done Show Less
LibraryThing member setnahkt
Mostly straightforward literary discussion of The Iliad, and quite interesting, with speculation on potential authors based on textual analysis (i.e., Homer vs. somebody else); speculation on the dates and times of various sections and added or omitted material (for example, that there should be a
This historicity of the Trojan War was a subject of much debate among archaeologists, until Heinrich Schliemann came along and demonstrated a site that fit the descriptions for Homer and Virgil. Unfortunately, Schliemann was more of a looter than an archaeologist, and the fact that he was right about the location of Troy didn’t do much to endear him to the professionals, nor did the fact that he smuggled a lot of gold jewelry out of the Ottoman Empire, which didn’t make things easy for subsequent archaeologists). (The jewelry - dubbed “Priam’s Treasure” by Schliemann but at least 1000 years too early - disappeared from Berlin in 1945. In 1993, to no one’s particular surprise, it turned up at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. The Russians have not expressed a great deal of enthusiasm about giving it back). Schliemann was wrong about the specific stratum identified as the Homeric Troy (Schliemann thought Troy II; turned out to be Troy VI). However, the archaeological world now agrees that yes, there was a city called “Ilios” in the Bronze Age and “Troy” later, and that yes, something unpleasant happened to it. A lot of cities were destroyed at the end of the Bronze Age, but the destruction layer at Troy VI is somewhat earlier than that (about 1250 BCE). Troy seems to have been a Hittite tributary/dependency/something; Hittite documents refer to “Wilusa” and there’s a fragment of a cuneiform letter from Hittite king Hattusili II to an unnamed Great King of “Ahhiyawa” concerning some sort of issue over “Wilusa”. The general archaeological consensus is “Ahhiyawa” is “Achaea” and “Wilusa” is “Ilios” (strengthened by the fact that the “W/digamma” had dropped out of the Greek language by Homer’s time; apparently there’s a few verses in The Iliad that work better metrically if an initial digamma is assumed – suggesting those verses are older than Homer). There’s another letter (dated to around 1300 BCE) from Hittite king Muwattalli II binding the king of “Wilusa” and his descendants to a treaty; the Wilusan king is named Alaksandu – and Alexandros is an alternate name for Paris in The Iliad (it’s also definitely Greek, which raises the question why a Hittite king was dealing with a Greek ruler of Troy). Homer refers to a people living around Troy – and sometimes the Trojans themselves - as the “Dardanoi”, anglicized to “Dardanians”; among the allies of the Hittites against Ramses II at the battle of Kadesh (around 1275 BCE) was “He of Dardany”. Lots of fruit for speculation if you allow a little creative etymology.
There’s an endpaper map that shows the ancient and modern shorelines around Troy, but no other illustrations. The endnotes are extensive and voluminous; the suggested reading list is, like the bulk of the text, focused on the literature rather than the history but there’s enough to go on if you’re interested.
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“catalogue of horses” after the “catalogue of ships”), and links to older works (is the relationship between Achilles and Patroklos based on the relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu?). In this last case, author Caroline Alexander notes that Achilles, being raised in the wild by a centaur, is more like Enkidu than like Gilgamesh. The Iliad, of course, is a world literary treasure and reading this discussion is well worth it; however I found myself just as interested in Alexander’s historical and archaeological notes.This historicity of the Trojan War was a subject of much debate among archaeologists, until Heinrich Schliemann came along and demonstrated a site that fit the descriptions for Homer and Virgil. Unfortunately, Schliemann was more of a looter than an archaeologist, and the fact that he was right about the location of Troy didn’t do much to endear him to the professionals, nor did the fact that he smuggled a lot of gold jewelry out of the Ottoman Empire, which didn’t make things easy for subsequent archaeologists). (The jewelry - dubbed “Priam’s Treasure” by Schliemann but at least 1000 years too early - disappeared from Berlin in 1945. In 1993, to no one’s particular surprise, it turned up at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. The Russians have not expressed a great deal of enthusiasm about giving it back). Schliemann was wrong about the specific stratum identified as the Homeric Troy (Schliemann thought Troy II; turned out to be Troy VI). However, the archaeological world now agrees that yes, there was a city called “Ilios” in the Bronze Age and “Troy” later, and that yes, something unpleasant happened to it. A lot of cities were destroyed at the end of the Bronze Age, but the destruction layer at Troy VI is somewhat earlier than that (about 1250 BCE). Troy seems to have been a Hittite tributary/dependency/something; Hittite documents refer to “Wilusa” and there’s a fragment of a cuneiform letter from Hittite king Hattusili II to an unnamed Great King of “Ahhiyawa” concerning some sort of issue over “Wilusa”. The general archaeological consensus is “Ahhiyawa” is “Achaea” and “Wilusa” is “Ilios” (strengthened by the fact that the “W/digamma” had dropped out of the Greek language by Homer’s time; apparently there’s a few verses in The Iliad that work better metrically if an initial digamma is assumed – suggesting those verses are older than Homer). There’s another letter (dated to around 1300 BCE) from Hittite king Muwattalli II binding the king of “Wilusa” and his descendants to a treaty; the Wilusan king is named Alaksandu – and Alexandros is an alternate name for Paris in The Iliad (it’s also definitely Greek, which raises the question why a Hittite king was dealing with a Greek ruler of Troy). Homer refers to a people living around Troy – and sometimes the Trojans themselves - as the “Dardanoi”, anglicized to “Dardanians”; among the allies of the Hittites against Ramses II at the battle of Kadesh (around 1275 BCE) was “He of Dardany”. Lots of fruit for speculation if you allow a little creative etymology.
There’s an endpaper map that shows the ancient and modern shorelines around Troy, but no other illustrations. The endnotes are extensive and voluminous; the suggested reading list is, like the bulk of the text, focused on the literature rather than the history but there’s enough to go on if you’re interested.
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LibraryThing member jwhenderson
This is an excellent book to read in conjunction with your latest rereading of Homer's Iliad, which is just what I have recently done. Caroline Alexander manages to emphasize the relevance of the Iliad for today by exploring references to other literature and deepening the meanings found within the
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Iliad by the reader. While Homer's epic stands alone for the serious reader, the addition of these resources widens the breadth of possibilities of understanding for the reader and, in my case, assisted in our discussion of the original text among our study group. What Ms. Alexander has not done is produce a traditional work of Homeric scholarship with commentary on linguistic expressions or the oral tradition. Rather this is more of an extended meditation on war and its meaning as beautifully expressed by Homer through Achilles and his other characters. The result is a successful addition to your reading and enjoyment of Homer but not a replacement for it. Show Less
LibraryThing member JaneAnneShaw
LOVED this book ~ it's humane and genuinely involving. One of the best titles I've read on the figure of Achilles. Reviewed on Amazon.
LibraryThing member steve.clason
I've read the Iliad several times and return to it often. Although knowledge of the context from which the work arose increases my appreciation, bloodless academic commentary has the opposite effect. In this book, Ms. Alexander combines broad knowledge with deep feeling and considerable craft to
Highly recommended.
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present a sympathetic, modern understanding of Achilles' (and our) situation in the world. Granted she's opinionated about the nature of war but I generally agree that it destroys both the victors and the vanquished and nothing good comes from it, so I can live with that.Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member cbobbitt
Using the translation by Richard Lattimore, Alexander takes readers chronologically through the 24 books of Homer's Iliad. Her thesis is that the epic criticizes war rather than praises its virtues. Extensive notes and a strong bibliography divided into annotated sections elevate the value of this
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analysis. Show Less
LibraryThing member Knicke
Having only vaguely encountered The Iliad before, I enjoyed listening to this book very much. A good mix of bits of archeology, lots of textual analysis, and a smattering of commentary on current events. Probably there are many better scholarly works on the subject, but this was good enough for the
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layperson and also engaging. Michael Page does a pretty good job as the reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member JWarren42
A really wonderful resource that combines all the archeological work on Troy with the in-depth close reading work on the Iliad to date. I wish I'd had this book about 10 years ago, but was still quite happy to have now.
LibraryThing member annbury
Well written and always interesting.
LibraryThing member gayla.bassham
Really 3 1/2 stars. I started out really liking this book, then got bored with it as the second half became repetitive. The first half, though, is full of interesting insights and anecdotes and factoids, so still well worth reading.
LibraryThing member Meggo
I thought this would be a study of the history of the Trojan war and it was actually a study of the poetry of Homer's Iliad with reference to Greek mythology. Yeah, I know, it says that right on the cover, but I thought they were being colourful. At any rate, if you like poetry or Homer, this is
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the book for you. If you enjoy history, not so much. Show Less
LibraryThing member cjneary
60 years ago as a freshman in high school I read everything I could lay my hands on regarding the Iliad and the Trojan War. I have just relived my youth in reading "the War that Killed Achilles" with its dissection of the main scenes, accompanied by breathtaking insight and spectacular scolarship.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
296 p.; 6.5 inches
ISBN
0670021121 / 9780670021123
Local notes
FB In-depth retelling of the Iliad in relation to modern warfare. Copious notes and bibliography. Some underlining.
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