Reviews tagging 'War'

The Iliad by Homer, Geoffrey S. Kirk

78 reviews

ferch's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THIS IS SO EPIC. I seriously recommend Peter Presets (YouTube channel) that reads and gives an analysis of each chapter. He helped me get through it and appreciate the entire value.
SUMMARY: GORE OF WAR, GLORY AND GRIEF.
A must read if you love Greek Mythology, though you need some context from the Epic Cycle [books before the Iliad] and some context to understand and appreciate this art better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Blood

xandra_lyn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was the translation I read in college, and I wanted to reread it before reading Emily Wilson's translation. It's an ok, but rather difficult to understand at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Rape and Trafficking

Trafficking and rape: although neither of these words are present in the text, slave girls are given and taken as gifts and are explicitly slept with. It isn't glorified or condemned - it is a fact in their world that this will happen to conquered nations.

moon_peach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

You want to know the name of every Greek? Well you're gonna. The poem takes place in a battlefield and we are told who dies, who their dad is and who their dad's dad is. 

The interesting parts are of course Archilles and Patroclus but also Hector.

He bares a lot of anger towards Paris for causing the war in the first place but surprisingly Helen says that he was always kind to her and we never really see him scold her only Paris. He is loved by the Trojans and you really see why.

By the way near the end Athena just socks Aphrodite and it's hilarious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

qqjj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

introverted_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rip achilles you would’ve loved grindr

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Cannibalism

bootrat's review against another edition

Extremely boring and repetitive. Apart from small mentions of the gods, and them arguing about meddling in the war, the whole book seems to be lists of names and relatisns, and who killed whom. "Person 1, son of x from [place], fought person 2, son of y from [place], and killed him like this. Then person 1 fought person 3, son of z from [place], and killed him like this." 
I got 2.5 hours in, and it seemed like this was going to be the entire book! Maybe I'll revisit it at some point, but as a physical book rather than an audiobook so I can skim through it and see if anything more actually happens.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

syliu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I had a lot of fun reading this, and I’m glad to have experienced some of Homer in this way. That said I was quite disappointed by the actual portion of the legend of the Trojan War presented here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, Excrement, and Death of parent

ewwa18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

cthulhu_calamari's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Incest and Sexual violence