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Iliad
HOMER SPEAKS -- LISTEN UP!
More than 3,000 years after the fall of Troy, here at last is a rendition of the Homeric epic that everybody can understand and appreciate. The world can't hear Homer speak his own words, but Stanley Lombardo is the next best thing. Reading his own acclaimed (unabdriged) translations, Lombardo's insightful rendition takes advantage of the rhythms and other poetic resources of everyday American speech. The result provides cinematic and performance qualities to the time-honored poetry -- sharp scene cuts, dynamic language, urgency of the characters (human and divine). His virtuoso performance in these audiobooks reflects years of experience before a wide variety of audiences -- beautifully paced, shaped, intoned, and acted throughout.
"The definitive English version of Homer for our time." -- Common Review
"The excellence of Lombardo's performance can't be lauded too much. There's no other translator of the world's greatest poetry that is also a world-class reader." -- Douglass Parker, University of Texas at Austin
"Just the right degree of involvement or detachment as each circumstance in the reading calls for." -- William Levitan, Grand Valley State University
"Remarkably true to the centrality of performance in Homer, the varied pacing and tone, the clarity, speed, narrative drive, and moments of breathtaking beauty." -- Rachel Hadas, Rutgers University
"The quality of Stan's voice, which has an honest, unshowy American core, makes these performances sound fresh, intimate, and believable --very different from those theatricized oral interpretations that overplay the 'epic' note. Altogether this is as good as Homer gets in English." -- Richard P. Martin, Stanford University
STANLEY LOMBARDO is Professor of Classics at Kansas University.
Manufacturer: Parmenides Audio
Price Range: $25.00 - $42.00
 Iliad
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| User Reviews |  | A fine translator and performer
rating: 5
Stanley Lombardo strives to bring a classic to the hearts and minds of a modern, disinterested audience, an audience which may regard this epic as a relic of ancient times. As language mutates over time and the meaning of words change, a point is reached at which literature becomes unintelligible except to an elitist educated minority. We see this happening in Shakespeare right now for example. Similarly, translations of Ancient Greek classics from 80 years or more ago now sound 'archaic' in style. Lombardo attempts in his translation to bring the Iliad into an 'ultra-modern' idiom, and he does this with the heart of a poet himself.
His search for the poetic message in the modern idiom comes at some slight cost in translational precision, too much for some purists. However there can be no doubt that Lombardo possesses a profound insight into his subject material and he has chosen his words deliberately and carefully. For those interested in the sound of the original language, Dr Lombardo has, to my mind, his simply wonderful recitation of the first book of the 'Iliad' in Ancient Greek on the internet. When Chryses speaks, one visualises the old man and when Achilles and Agamemnon argue, the emotions sound fully authentic. So too he achieves emotional integrity in this recording. The technical quality is excellent, with clarity throughout.
Although an introduction of some sort is probably mandatory in a recording of this nature, and Susan Sarandon's introduction is fine, I found her preamble to each book of the 'Iliad' quite annoying. These are nothing more than a plot-revealing, in fact plot-diminishing summary of what is about to happen. What point in this when Lombardo's translation rings so lucidly to the modern ear? Perhaps they are placed out of fear of monotony developing in so long a tale. Also the music, which initiates and concludes each Book is unvarying and a little too long at 60 seconds every time. Such are the decisions made by the marketing people these days. I side-stepped annoyance by down-loading only the Lombardo tracks to my mp3 player. (My apologies to Ms Sarandon, whom I admire as a fine actor.)
If you are interested in a modern recording of an ancient classic, then I would recommend this without reservation. After listening to Lombardo, he has won me over and I'm a big fan.
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An engaging, entertaining, and memorable reading of the classic work
rating: 5
Ably translated and expertly narrated by Stanley Lombardo, Iliad is a flawlessly recorded, complete and unabridged audio presentation of the timeless and classical Greek tale of the Trojan War ascribed to the blind poet Homer. Enhanced with an introduction read by Susan Sarandon, this audio book edition of the Iliad fully captures the epic nature of this story of an ancient tragedy. A "must" for school and community library audiobook collections, this Parmenides Audio 12 CD, 15 hour edition of the Iliad is enthusiastically recommended for all listeners searching for an engaging, entertaining, and memorable reading of the classic work. Also very highly recommended as translated by Stanley Lombardo and featuring equally insightful synopses from Susan Sarandon, is Homer's Odyssey (1930972067, $42.00, 10 CD, 12.5 hours, unabridged, Parmenides Audio).
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