An Excellent Iliad

Listening to Charlton Griffin's reading of Richmond Lattimore's translation of The Iliad was a wonderful experience.

Griffin is good at modifying the pitch and tone of his voice to evoke the different genders and ages and moods and agendas of the various characters. He brings the epic to life. He even makes fascinating the 90-minute introduction by scholar Herbert J. Muller. And the sound effects (ravens cawing over a battlefield) and Greek mood music introducing and concluding the 24 books of the epic immersed me in its world.

As for Homer's story, an epic focused on a short slice of a long war, a tragedy with plenty of humor, it is rewardingly rich, depicting the appalling heroism and horror of war, the full range of human nature (from bravery to cowardice, brutality to mercy, destruction to creation, and hatred to love), the richness of ancient Greek culture, the pettiness and power of the gods, and the mortality and wonder of life. Among the most impressive moments are Hector's meeting with his wife and baby before going out to fight, Hephaestus' crafting of a shield with the heavens and earth and all of human endeavor animated upon it, and Achilles' inability to embrace the ghost of Patroclus in a dream. I hope the following quotation will give an idea of the excellence of Lattimore's translation and the depth of Homer's vision:

As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity,
The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber
burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning.
So one generation of men will grow while another dies.

In conclusion, I thoroughly savored this audio version of The Iliad, often smiling with appreciation for Homer's story, Lattimore's translation, and Griffin's reading. I highly recommend it.

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68 people found this helpful

This is the audio version you want

What made the experience of listening to The Iliad the most enjoyable?

There is a SIGNIFICANT quality difference between the translations of Iliad. Do yourself a favor and go with this one, the Lattimore translation.

The introduction to this audio version is surprisingly good. It is not the introduction written by Lattimore himself in my print copy of the Iliad, and it is much better as a general stage-setting to the text. I cannot fault the archaeological information, which is basic, or the discussion of literary devices and their origin as well as Homer's particularly fine usage of them. The overview of the first ten years of the Trojan War is excellent. I appreciate some of the ideas expressed about religion and spirituality in Classical Greece but the information given is based upon some outdated interpretations, especially as to the origins of the Olympian and other gods, and should be taken with a large pinch of salt. Other than this consideration--which any interested reader can follow up with his own research, and an uninterested reader will hardly care or remember later--the introduction, as I say, is very good.

The voice of Charlton Griffin is marvelous. It is filled with nobility and authority, richly textured, and precise.

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59 people found this helpful

NOT ENTIRE ILLIAD -- IT IS ABRIDGED

What disappointed you about The Iliad?

The Iliad has 24 chapters. It ends with the funeral of Hector. This version cuts of the end, having only 20 chapters. The the fight between Achilles and Hector isn't here!!! Couldn't believe it. Some of the most important parts of the work are simply left out. It is abridged. Surprised this is rated as highly as it is.

Has The Iliad turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes, it has turned me off audible generally. Are other books said to be "unabridged" when they really aren't? If I download a history of the Revolutionary War, will they simply leave out Yorktown?

Any additional comments?

My first audible download, and very disappointing. I would return it if I could, for false advertising.

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42 people found this helpful

Another great production by Charlton Griffin

Charlton Griffin is my "go to" man for the classics. He can deliver the haughtiness of Zeus and the self-loathing of Helen.
This is another great title in the Audio Connoisseur catalog.

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30 people found this helpful

Fantastic! Beginner & I Loved It!

I bought because of a top 100 books list. I did not expect to enjoy, and it was awesome! The early section explains to the novice what to expect, and the story follows exactly as outlined. The writer even tells which parts are tedious. The reader does a remarkable job. I have bought other Greek literature because of this experience. The Odyssey is even better, but read this first.

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25 people found this helpful

Gruesome and gore even by todays media standards

A phenomenal tale! Fierce battles, unstoppable hero's, bronze leaf-headed spears that spill a mans innards out before his before him bringing the clouded mist of darkness to his eyes... arrows shot by mortals and guided by Gods making their mark piercing a mans eye, through his brain and exiting through the back of his skull hurling the chariot driver to the ground face down with a mouthful of dirt as the red mist of darkness comes to him...

If you revel in details, you will enjoy the unabridged version of this story. I sampled all of the readers before downloading to see which narrator would best suite the story. Hands down Charlton Griffin wins again and again. Slight British accent, deep majestic voice that easily convinces you that you are listening to Almighty Zeus himself. He switches the voices up for specific characters to break any potential monotony. Excellent story, excellent narration! His style of narration makes you feel as though you are taken back in time and put into the story itself!

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18 people found this helpful

poor sound recording

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

yes

Would you be willing to try another one of Charlton Griffin’s performances?

Definitely

Any additional comments?

The narrator was a great voice.

The problem was in the recording. Almost every book of the Iliad had a middle break in it where there would suddenly be a 5-15 second silence in the middle of a scene or sentence. Then after this it would get super quiet or much louder so you needed to keep adjusting the volume. It was pretty bad especially in the middle books where the amplitude of change in the volume was greatest.

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14 people found this helpful

It would be the best, but...

Would you try another book from Homer and Richmond Lattimore (translator) and/or Charlton Griffin?

I've had negative things to say about Charleton Griffin's readings before, especially his Pindar, but this is an outstanding performance. Unfortunately, it's marred by bad production values. Lattimore is, of course, one of the finest translators of Ancient Greek literature.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Iliad?

Any editor that cuts scenes from the Iliad is simply guilty of hubris.

Any additional comments?

This would be the best reading / translation combination of the Iliad available on Audible (Fagles' translation is only available in an abridged reading. it doesn't count as the Iliad to me). But Griffin's reading was clearly transferred from cassette tape by machine without a sound editor in attendance. There are random long pauses (no doubt the end of cassette tapes) and the sound level is uneven throughout: one section will be loud and the next one nearly inaudible. Also, the Iliad is 24 books long, and that's how many chapters a reading should contain, but this audio version is broken up randomly into 63 chapters. These issues allow the Fitzgerald translation as read by Dan Stevens to emerge as the best available combination of reader and translation of the Iliad available on Audible. It's really too bad, because Griffin does such a wonderful job of reading the it.

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12 people found this helpful

Advertise that this is the Lattimore translation

What made the experience of listening to The Iliad the most enjoyable?

The translation was the version I was hoping would be available.

What did you like best about this story?

I like everything about The Iliad, in any translation; the fact that the audible.com version is my favorite (Lattimore) makes it the best thing about this selection.

Have you listened to any of Charlton Griffin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Just a sample of two tales from Metamorphoses by Ovid. This compares well, to a very high standard of performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I imagine this question is more for unfamiliar titles--when the text is encountered for the first time as an Audible.com reading performance. Homer's text in its many different translations never fails to evoke the emotional spectrum no matter how many times it's been experienced before; Charlton Griffin's reading of Homer/Lattimore was excellent.

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9 people found this helpful

Love it

Great reading, very entertaining tto listen to. The reader really tells the story in a way that makes you feel like those who heard Homer tell it must have felt.

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8 people found this helpful