The 'Iliad'

01/14/23 • 48 min

In their first episode of Among the Ancients, Emily and Tom begin with a beginning, Homer's Iliad: its depictions of anger and grief, of capricious gods and warriors’ bodies, and the sheer narrative force of Homer’s epic of the Trojan War.

Non-subscribers can only hear extracts from the rest of the episodes in this series. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

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Read more in the LRB:

James Davidson: Like a Meteorite

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v19/n15/james-davidson/like-a-meteorite

Edward Luttwak: Homer Inc.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v34/n04/edward-luttwak/homer-inc

Colin Burrow: The Empty Bath

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n12/colin-burrow/the-empty-bath

Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and translator of the 'Odysse'y and the 'Iliad'. Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books and host of the LRB Podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Non-subscribers can only hear extracts from the rest of the episodes in this series. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings

Previous Episode

Introducing Among the Ancients

Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones introduce their series on the great works of Greek and Roman literature, from Homer to Horace, and discuss some of the themes and preoccupations running through the twelve episodes.

The authors under discussion in this series will be: Homer (Iliad and Odyssey), Sappho, Sophocles, Euripedes, Aristophanes, Catullus, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Seneca.

Non-subscribers can only hear extracts from most of the episodes in this series. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

The 'Odyssey'

In episode two of Among the Ancients, Tom and Emily turn to Homer’s Odyssey. They discuss the twisting, turning nature of both the narrative and its hero, the poem’s complex interrogation of the idea of ‘home’, and the violence Odysseus brings with him on his return from the Trojan War.

Non-subscribers can only hear extracts from most of the episodes in this series. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings