HOMER AND THE TROJAN WAR

Required Reading

•   Charlotte Higgins, "The Iliad And What It Can Still Tell Us About War," Guardian, January 30, 2010.

Primary Sources

• Iliad:  An audio version of Samuel Butler's translation from the Internet Archive.

• Odyssey:  An audio version of Samuel Butler's translation from the Internet Archive.

Web-Sites

a)  The Trojan War And Myth

• Trojan War -- Greek Mythology Link:

• Aftermath Of The Trojan War And Returns Of The Achaean Leaders -- Greek Mythology Link:

• Greek Age Of Bronze -- Trojan War:

• Eric Shanower, Age Of Bronze: A Thousand Ships:  A snippet of Shanower's graphic comic interpretation of the Trojan War myth.

•   Trojan War -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

• Returns From Troy -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

•   Trojan War:  An overview from Crystallinks.

• Myth Of The Trojan War -- British Museum:  A small virtual exhibit.

• Images Of The Trojan War Myth:  A series of images from the Department of Greek and Roman Classics at Temple University.

• Trojan War:  A brief introduction with attendant images from a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Classical Mythology course.

• End Of The Trojan War; Orestes And Odysseus:  Part II from the same University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee web-site.

• Mortal Women Of The Trojan War:  A well-focused site from Stanford University.

•   Myths And Stories Of The Trojan War.  The web-site for Dr. Diane Thompson's excellent English/Humanities Northern Virginia Community College course on Troy.  There is extensive information here that traces the story of Troy from the Greeks through the Romans to the Middle Ages, Shakespeare and contemporary popular culture.  Spend some good time at this site.  For the section that highlights contemporary cultural images of Troy, see .

•   "The Truth Of Troy -- Transcript," BBC Two, March 25, 2004.

b)  Achilles and The Iliad

•   A condensed summary from a course at Western Michigan University.

•   In-depth notes on the Iliad from a Humanities 110 class at Reed College.

c)  The Odyssey and Odysseus

•   Odysseus.  A detailed summary of the Odyssey from Mythweb.

d)  Other Mythic Characters

•   Agamemnon -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

• Cassandara -- Goddesses And Heroines:  A series of links.

• Cytemnestra -- Goddesses And Heroines:  A series of links.

• Hector -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

• Helen -- Goddesses And Heroines:  A series of links.

• Iphigenia -- Goddesses And Heroines:  A series of links.

•   Paris -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

• Patroclus:

• Patroclus -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

• Polyxena -- Goddesses And Heroines:  A series of links.

• Priam -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

e)  Homer

•   Homer -- Wikipedia:  An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.

Audio And Video Sources

• Helen Of Troy:  An excellent PBS documentary hosted by Bettany Hughes.

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

• Part 4

• Part 5

• Part 6

• Part 7

• Part 8

• Part 9

• Part 10

• "In Ancient Dramas, Vital Words For Today's Warriors," All Things Considered, NPR (November 25, 2008).

• "Strauss Offers Fresh Look At 'Trojan War,'" Talk Of The Nation, NPR (September 21, 2006).

• "Who Is The Real Helen?," Woman's Hour, BBC (October 18, 2005).

•   "The Odyssey," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4 (September 9, 2004).

• "Classicist Review 'Troy,'" Talk Of The Nation (May 18, 2004).  An extensive interview in which University of Kentucky classics professor Robert Rabel reviews the Brad Pitt movie.

•   "Troy Story," Connection (May 10, 2004).  A 45-minute episode on the Iliad from A Boston public radio talk show.

• "Combat Troy."  Laura Knoy (May 8, 2003).  An interview for New Hampshire Public Radio with Dr. Jonathan Shay, author of Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming.

• "Book Club Of The Air: Homer's Iliad," Talk Of The Nation, NPR (November 20, 1997).

Homer And The Trojan War In The News

• Tom Holland, "The War That Killed Achilles," Guardian, January 16, 2010.

• Caroline Alexander, "Back From War, But Not Really Home," New York Times, November 7, 2009.

• Steve Coates, "Where Men Won Glory," New York Times, October 15, 2009.

• Dwight Garner, "Beneath A Sheen Of Glory, The Ugly Horror Of War," New York Times, October 13, 2009.

•   Clyde Haberman, "Like War Itself, Effects Of War Are Hell -- Ask The Greeks," New York Times, September 18, 2008.

• Glenn and Sarah Collins, "Searching For An Epic's Origins," New York Times, September 9, 2008.

• "Palace Of 'Ajax' Found In Greece," BBC News, march 28, 2006.

• Mary Beard, "A New Spin On Homer," Guardian, October 29, 2005.

• "Homer Tops Poetry Bestseller List," BBC News, October 7, 2004.

• Robert McCrum, "The Observer Profile: Homer," Observer, May 16, 2004.

• Stefan Lovgren, "Is Troy True?: The Evidence Behind Movie Myth," National Geographic News, May 14, 2004.

•   "Geologists Investigate Trojan Battlefield," BBC News, February 7, 2003.

• John Noble Wilford, "Was Troy A Metropolis?: Homer Isn't Talking," New York Times, October 22, 2002.

Articles

• Simone Weil, "The Iliad, Or The Poem Of Force":  Written by the French existentialist philosopher in Occupied France (Weil would be executed by the Nazis), this essay is regarded as one of the most important twentieth-century commentaries upon Homer's epic.

•   Fergus M. Bordewich, "Odyssey's End?: The Search For Ancient Ithaca," Smithsonian (April 2006).

• Josh Fischman, "The Real Trojan War," U.S. News And World Report, 136 (May 24, 2004): 54-59.

• Trevor R. Bryce, "The Trojan War: Is There Truth Behind The Legend?," Near Eastern Archaeology, 65 (September 2002): 182-195.

• Jay Tolson, "Was Homer A Solo Act Or A Bevy Of Bards?: Classicists Have Few Clues But Lots Of Theories," U.S. News and World Report (July 24, 2000).

Hollywood And The Trojan War

• Bob Baker, "History Was Just The Half Of It," New York Times, November 14, 2004.

•   "Review: Troy," BBC News, June 11, 2004.

• "Unearthing Troy's Truth," BBC News, May 21, 2004.

•   "Pitt Compares Troy With Iraq War," BBC News, May 14, 2004.

•   "The Return Of Swords And Sandals Epics," BBC News, May 14, 2004.

• "Brad Pitt's Epic Journey," BBC News, May 13, 2004.

• "Pitt In Berlin For Troy Premiere," BBC News, May 10, 2004.

•   "Museum To Stage Troy Exhibition," BBC News, April 28, 2004.

Miscellaneous

• Trojan War Quiz:

•  Iliad Game.  Think you know the Iliad?  Try these questions and you may conclude differently.

•   .  Play the Odyssey Game to test your knowledge of Homer's epic. 

• Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890).  A brief biography from Minnesota State University.