The Iliad & The Odyssey

Two literary masterpieces in one!

In one volume, the two great epic poems of Greek literature — Homer’s
The Iliad and
The Odyssey — drawing from the masterful verse translations of poet Alexander Pope.
The Iliad and
The Odyssey, both attributed to the poet Homer, are major works of epic poetry and among the oldest extant works of literature — and certainly among the oldest to still be read and enjoyed by modern readers. Both are considered to be essential pieces of the Western literary canon, timeless works touching upon themes of honor, duty, and fate, that continue to find relevance for every generation.

The Iliad tells the story of the heroes of the Trojan War — timeless characters like Achilles, Patroclus, Menelaus, Agamemnon, Hector, Paris, Helen of Troy — focusing on just a few decisive weeks near the end of the ten year struggle, during a time when the Greek leaders Achilles and Agamemnon are at odds.

The Odyssey catches up with the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses) and his journey home to his island kingdom of Ithaca after the Trojan War, which due to a series of perils and misadventures takes an additional ten years. Meanwhile, his dutiful wife Penelope and Telemachus must contend with an increasingly unruly crowd of suitors who assume Odysseus to be dead and vying for Penelope’s hand and Odysseus’s vacant seat.