The Iliad & The Odyssey

Embark on an epic journey through the ancient world with Homer's timeless classics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, as brought to life in Samuel Butler's vibrant and accessible translations. This definitive compilation unites two of the most influential and enduring tales of heroism, love, and adventure that continue to captivate readers across millennia.

Embark on an epic journey through the ancient world with Homer's timeless classics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, as brought to life in Samuel Butler's vibrant and accessible translations. This definitive compilation unites two of the most influential and enduring tales of heroism, love, and adventure that continue to captivate readers across millennia.

This epic volume brings together the two greatest adventure stories ever told - Homer's Iliad and Odyssey - the twin heroic poems at the foundation of Western literature, retold here in prose. The Iliad is Homer's legendary account of the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy, centred on the wrath of Achilles. The Odyssey follows the hero-king Odysseus on his long and perilous voyage home from that same war - beset by monsters, gods, and the sea - to his kingdom of Ithaca and his waiting wife Penelope. Both poems are credited to Homer, regarded as one of the most influential writers of all time whose influence has been felt across thousands of years of Western art, literature, and film. Both stories are presented here in flowing English prose by the novelist Samuel Butler, originally published in 1900, alongside several essays and writings on Homer and his epics. Wine Dark Press is proud to gather both foundational epics in a single deluxe edition, remaining faithful to the original sources and set down whole for modern readers, to stand on the shelf beside the many stories they inspired.

This collection includes both of the greatest Greek stories ever told and numbers amongst the most important works of Western literature. "The Illiad" is Homer's legendary account of the Trojan War, an epic battle that took place over three thousand years ago and had a significant impact on world history. "The Odyssey" follows the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca and his voyage back home following the cessation of the Trojan War. Translated into English prose by Samuel Butler and including several essays and writings on both Homer and the Epics, this book is a must have for any lovers of history and literature and would make a perfect addition to any book shelf. Homer was the author of the two epic poems upon which the works of ancient Greek literature are predicated, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey". Though Homer is regarded as being among the greatest and most influential writers of all time, the question of when, where and by whom the "Illiad" and "Odyssey" were written remains unanswered--although most scholars agree that they were both written around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. For thousands of years the influence of the Homeric epic has had on Western civilization has been significant, having inspired a large number of its most famous works of art, literature, and film.