The Iliad: A Commentary: Volume 6, Books 21-24 by Nicholas Richardson (PDF)

Description

This is the sixth and final volume of the major Commentary on Homer’s Iliad now being prepared under the General Editorship of Professor G. S. Kirk. It discusses the last four books of the poem in detail, and its main purpose is to help readers to appreciate the poetic and narrative qualities of the work. There is no other study comparable to this in scale and detail in English. The introduction also discusses the structure and main themes of the poem, its relationship to the Odyssey, and the way in which the Homeric poems were interpreted in antiquity. The Greek text is not included. This volume contains a consolidated index of the Greek words in all six volumes.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Good background for understanding the Iliad.

⭐This six-volume commentary on the Iliad is fantastic and indispensable. The other reviewer, Markos, has completely missed the point; this is not a commentary intended for first-time readers of Homer (Cambridge Green and Yellow commentaries tend more in that direction) nor for those reading the epic in translation. Instead, it is an introduction to many topics of scholarly debate that surround the poem, keyed to the parts of the text where that information is most relevant.While I am disappointed that the book is not currently available on Amazon, it is a reference work and, as such, is probably mostly bought only by libraries. It is very well done, however, and should not be missed by any serious scholars of the Classics.

⭐I was disappointed. A good commentary needs to be complete but cannot be too wordy. Get to the point and allow us to get back to reading the text. Kirk’s commentary is obviously meant for people who read Homer in the Greek, but he does not devote enough attention to the Greek text. Instead he sort of rambles on about the plot, what he things speakers have in mind, stylistic considerations that are not clear. Here’s an example. You tell me if (a) this helps you understand the Iliad any better (b) you even know what the heck Kirk is talking about (b) “Until now the speech has been undramatic and routinely cumulative in expression, with conventional verse-structure and moderate enjambment. The present graphic and hypothetical calculation, set out in a single long and progressively-enjambed sentence and brought to an epigrammatic climax in 128, noticeably elevates the style.” Okay. Difficult Greek cruxes are often ignored by Kirk. Older commentaries like Anthon’s (published in 1847!) and Draper’s marvelous recent book manage to be both more consise AND give you more helpful information. Unfortunatley, these books do not cover the entire Iliad. A good, complete, detailed modern commentary on the Iliad has yet to be written. This book certainly is not that.

⭐For my purposes the de Jong commentary is much more informative. It is not much help with difficulties of translation

⭐this is an excellent book written by a connoisseur of the matter

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