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    The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War
    Unavailable
    The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War
    Unavailable
    The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War
    Audiobook8 hours

    The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War

    Written by Caroline Alexander

    Narrated by Michael Page

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The dramatic events of the Trojan War are legend-but Homer's epic poem, Iliad, is devoted entirely to a few mundane weeks at the end of a debilitating, waning ten-year campaign. The story's focus is not on drama but on a bitter truth: both armies want nothing more than to stop fighting and go home. Achilles-the electrifying hero who is Homer's brilliant creation-quarrels with his commander, Agamemnon, but eventually returns to the field to avenge a comrade's death. Few warriors, in life or literature, have challenged their commanding officer and the rationale of the war they fought as fiercely as did Homer's Achilles.

    Homer's Iliad addresses the central questions defining the war experience of every age. Is a warrior ever justified in challenging his commander? Must he sacrifice his life for someone else's cause? Giving his life for his country, does a man betray his family? Can death ever be compensated by glory? How is a catastrophic war ever allowed to start-and why, if all parties wish it over, can it not be ended?

    As she did in The Endurance and The Bounty, Caroline Alexander has taken apart a story we think we know and put it back together in a way that reveals what Homer really meant us to glean from his masterpiece. Written with the authority of a scholar and the vigor of a bestselling narrative historian, The War That Killed Achilles is a superb and utterly timely presentation of one of the timeless stories of our civilization.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 15, 2009
    ISBN9781423399230
    Unavailable
    The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War
    Author

    Caroline Alexander

    Caroline Alexander is the author of the international bestsellers The Endurance and The Bounty and, more recently, The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of the Trojan War. She is a contributing writer for National Geographic magazine and her work has also appeared in The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and Outside, among other publications. Alexander received her doctorate in classics from Columbia University and was the founder of the Department of Classics at the University of Malawi in East Africa.

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    Reviews for The War That Killed Achilles

    4.5/5

    24 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another book I picked up to learn the history of a book I have read. Only this time, it wasn’t the history of Troy but an in-depth analysis of the Iliad. Wish I had had this in my Literature class, but I still enjoyed the read.
    • 4/5
      I assumed that this book would be a discussion of what is known about the actual Trojan War. In this, I was slightly misled but the cover. This isn't really the ground that this book covers. Instead the book goes through the Iiad (the Latimore translation) providing analysis and commentary on the text. I am by no means well read in either the Classics or Homeric scholarship, but found Alexander to be an engaging and informative guide. She undoubtedly given me a richer understanding of The Iliad and if I were to read it again (which this has definitely inspired me to do) I would consult this as I went.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      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 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
    • 5/5
      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 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 theyspoil 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

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      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 layperson and also engaging. Michael Page does a pretty good job as the reader.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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 analysis.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 5/5
      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 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.