I see a lot of other podcasts posting the sources used for each episode in what they call the ‘show notes’. Very scholarly, but not the way my mind works.
My knowledge of the poems is akin to a swirling torrent comprised of all the anecdotes and connections and facts I have osmotically absorbed on Homer. When re-reading a chapter to write the next episode, little alarm bells go off in my head, and I head to my shelf of Homeric reference material to try and connect the dots. For this reason I lean on some material very heavily, and others just for single points and digressions. Instead of me doing my due-diligence and collating which books went into making which episode, it’s much easier to just dump them all in one location and let people sort through it.
This will certainly be an living document. I’ll try to keep it up to date with what I’m reading related to the Iliad, and provide some descriptions for each piece as well. Without further ado…
The Story of the Iliad
by E.T. Owen
This book, besides Lattimore’s translation of the Iliad, is the reason for this podcast/substack. The format of the book is a chapter by chapter literary analysis that attempts (and in my opinion succeeds) to answer the question ‘what makes [the Iliad], just as it stands, a well told story’. A perfect companion for anyone who has read the Iliad, Owen says this to them “It is for those who are studying [the Iliad] as a work of literary art and therefore want to find out why they enjoy it.”
I will say no more on the matter, because these quotations sufficiently describe the contents. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who wants the answers to those questions.
Homer: Poet of the Iliad
by Mark W. Edwards
While I have only recently acquired this book, and in doing so found a rich vein of books on Homer at a particular used book store, it has quickly risen to one of my go-to sources on the Iliad. It covers a wide range of topics, chapter titles include: The Bard, Oral Poetry, and Our Present text, Narrative: The Poet’s Voice, Language, Meter and Formulae, Battle Scenes, Speeches Soliloquies, and Characterization, Similes, Symbolism, and History and Society, to name just a few. While coverage on some topics is brief, it is enough to provide direction and context. The latter half of the book consists of analyses of the most important books, and are particularly potent. I can imagine that if you had to write any essay on the Iliad that this book would be near the top of your most cited list.
Homer on Life and Death
by Jasper Griffin
This book is all over the map when it comes to the Iliad and the Odyssey, but with good reason. Griffin opens the introduction with, “Nobody who writes on Homer has read everything, ancient and modern, that has been written about the poems. Each of us funds some more suggestive and helpful, some less, among the works of his predecessors.” The chapter titles for it are broad and vague, such as “Symbolic Scenes and Significant Objects”, and, “Death and the God-like Hero”, and, “Death, Pathos, and Objectivity”. It covers a lot and is often very specific, but an invaluable resource for studying Homer and Life and Death.
A Companion to the Iliad
Malcolm M. Willcock
A Companion to the Iliad is exactly that, a useful line by line companion for Richmond Lattimore’s translation! If you are confused about a certain word, phrase, or whole scene, you can check this book for an explanation. It also covers the scenes that have themselves become named, such as the teichoskopia or the speeches in the embassy to Achilles, and provides a bit of context and expansion on them. It’s very thorough, and some of the expansions on lines can be up to a page long! The numerous tidbits, comments, and clarifications make this a very useful resource to have on hand.
The War that Killed Achilles
Caroline Alexander
Caroline Alexander’s translation of the Iliad is currently my favorite, and this work preceded that translation by 7 years. The full translation of book 22 of the Iliad is included in this book, and Caroline cites this as a beginning point for her eventual full translation. Like the title mentions, this is a more literal leaning interpretation of the Iliad. The back side of the book reads ‘What are the real lessons of war?’. In it Caroline Alexander compares Achilles statements to those of modern veterans, and shows how relevant and timeless the events depicted in the Iliad really are. She compares the motherly concern of Thetis, who organizes the making of special armor for her son, to the modern day mothers of veterans organizing bake sales to purchase combat armor for their children. If you are looking for a source full of solid, meaningful reasons why the Iliad is relevant to modern life, then look no further.
[Updated as of August 18, 2024]
I mean this to be a running tally of the sources I use for the podcast, so I will try to update it regularly as my library expands. I’ll leave some dates in the text from when it is updated. Of course, if you’ve got any questions do not hesitate to reach out!