Resumen
Resumen de Homero: Ilíada y Odisea
Para quién es
For anyone who wants the shape of both Homer stories before a first reading or a class, or a refresher on their heroes and gods. For readers who enjoy war, wandering, family loyalty and homecoming, told in plain prose.
De qué trata este libro
A gift, a guest or a name can matter more than a life in the world of Homer. W. Lucas Collins, a Victorian clergyman and writer, retells the Iliad and the Odyssey in plain prose and explains the customs and gods behind them. The Iliad follows a quarrel among Greek leaders in the tenth year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey follows Odysseus on his dangerous road home to Ithaca, while his wife and son struggle in his house.
En este resumen
- 1Homer's poems come from a spoken worldFree
- 2A quarrel over a prize begins the wrath
- 3Gods and men meet on the plain
- 4Hector shows what war costs a family
- 5The fighting reaches the ships
- 6In Ithaca a household waits and breaks down
- 7Odysseus tells of monsters, magic and loss
- 8A beggar returns to a house of enemies
- 9Two poems, two moods, one way of telling
Idea clave 1 de 9
Homer's poems come from a spoken world
Collins begins with the question every reader asks. Who was Homer? The Greeks spoke of a blind singer from the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, and several cities claimed him. Collins treats the details as uncertain, as scholars do.
The poems grew out of a habit of singing stories aloud. Professional singers recite passages at public festivals, choosing stories to suit themselves or their audience. Collins suggests that later singers may also add verses of their own to Homer's songs.
The world is one of kings, bronze weapons and ships drawn up on a beach. Honor is the main currency, and to be robbed of a prize is to be shamed before everyone. The gods live on Olympus under Zeus and take sides like a powerful, quarrelling family. Collins asks the reader to take them as the Greeks did, as forces who can help, deceive or destroy.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Achilles
- The greatest Greek warrior, he withdraws from fighting after Agamemnon takes his prize.
- Agamemnon
- The chief Greek king at Troy, he quarrels with Achilles over a captive taken as a prize.
- Hector
- The Trojan champion, he defends his city and is a devoted husband, son, and brother to Paris.
- Odysseus
- The cunning king of Ithaca, he struggles to return home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
- Penelope
- Odysseus's wife, she resists the suitors occupying their household while waiting for news of her husband.
- Telemachus
- The young son of Odysseus and Penelope, he faces the suitors and seeks news of his father.
- Athena
- The goddess of wisdom, she favors the Greeks and helps Odysseus and his son Telemachus.
- Helen
- The woman whose abduction sparked the conflict, she lives in Troy with regret over the suffering.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 86,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 45 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 9 other languages
Questions about Homero: Ilíada y Odisea
What is the Iliad about?
The Iliad tells of a short stretch of the tenth year of the Trojan War. A quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles keeps the best Greek fighter out of battle, and the war grows deadlier for both sides.
What is the Odyssey about?
The Odyssey follows Odysseus on his long voyage home from Troy to Ithaca. It also follows his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, who must deal with a crowd of suitors who have taken over his house.
Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey?
Ancient tradition credits a poet named Homer, said to have lived on the Ionian coast. Scholars still debate who he was, whether one poet made both works, and how they were shaped before being written down.
Is the Trojan War a true story?
The poems are myth and legend, not history. Archaeology shows a real city at Troy that was destroyed, but whether the war happened as told is unknown. In the life Collins recounts, Homer composes the poems in Smyrna, probably around the eighth century BC.
Is Homer hard to read?
A prose retelling like Collins's gives the plot and context first, which makes the poems far easier to follow later.