"We know what will happen to Achilles, and it can't change: but seen through Hawkins' eyes and ears, the story will be new and grippingly real to readers of this age."-John Crowley, World Fantasy Award Winner and author of Ka and Little, Big In The Rage of Achilles, Terence Hawkins re-imagines the Iliad as a novel and a Trojan War that really happened. Though he adopts Homer's characters, those fabled warriors are no more noble than the scared, tired grunts they command, exhausted and bitter after ten years of brutal Bronze Age warfare. And however savage the fighting, over all hangs the terrible truth that the objective of combat is not glory, but the enslavement of the defeated. This realism extends to the gods themselves. Informed by Julian Jaynes' groundbreaking theory of the bicameral mind-the basis of HBO's "Westworld"-The Rage of Achilles takes place in a world in which the modern human consciousness struggles painfully to be born. The gods are only the hallucinations of men and women desperate to be told what to do in a terrifying and confusing world. Told in taut, elegant prose that captures both the Homeric lyric and military grit, The Rage of Achilles is a fast-moving take on literature's foundational epic.

Menis means more than an individual's emotional response. On the basis of the epic exemplifications of the word, Muellner defines the term as a cosmic sanction against behavior that violates the most basic rules of human society. Virtually absent from the Odyssey, the term menis appears in the Iliad in conjunction with the enforcement of social rules, especially the rules of reciprocal exchange. To understand the way menis functions, Muellner invokes the concept of tabu developed by Mary Douglas, stressing both the power and the danger that accrue to a person who violates such rules. Transgressive behavior has both a creative and a destructive aspect.

The controversial prose-and-verse translation of the ancient war epic by the acclaimed author of I, Claudius—“full of new and provocative ideas” (Kirkus Reviews). The war between the Greeks and the Trojans has reached a fever pitch. Offended by Agamemnon, the great Greek warrior Achilles is in his tent, refusing to fight. But then Trojan prince Hector slaughters Achilles’s intimate friend Patroclus. Willing or not, Achilles must take revenge for his friend’s death, even if it will result in his own. The Anger of Achilles is a novelized interpretation of Homer’s Iliad, told by noted poet, classicist, and historical novelist Robert Graves. In this innovative take on the classic tale, Achilles comes to life in all his vivid rage, bravery, passion, and lust for battle. Combining his expertise in ancient Greek warfare and culture with a famed talent for compelling storytelling, Graves is the ideal translator to bring this ancient epic of war to a modern audience. This edition includes a compelling introduction by the author, who argues that Homer’s Iliad is best understood as a satire, closer in spirit to the works of Cervantes than those of Milton. “The translation is lucid and concise, the work of a scholar of some originality.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Iliad and the Odyssey are the cornerstones of Western literature, inspiring artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers throughout history. Barbara Graziosi introduces Homer's key works and discusses the main literary, historical, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homeric studies.