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Just wondering if someone can suggest an edition of the Iliad that I can purchase online that includes the Greek text and notes for students. I have the first volume of the Loeb Iliad back in the States, but it does me no good at all here in Israel. I'd like to purchase something to carry with me as I go through the Homeric study.

Thanks,
Ἰήσων

Oh, ISBNs or links would be appreciated!

If you're happy with not having the entire text, there's the Draper book on Iliad I mentioned in a recent thread, and there's also Benner's "Selections from Homer's Iliad". Those might work for you.

jaihare wrote:Just wondering if someone can suggest an edition of the Iliad that I can purchase online that includes the Greek text and notes for students. I have the first volume of the Loeb Iliad back in the States, but it does me no good at all here in Israel. I'd like to purchase something to carry with me as I go through the Homeric study.

Thanks,
Ἰήσων

Jason,

I have three suggestions. The first is the Malcolm Willcock edition, available in paperback from amazon .com and bookfinder.com in two volumes, 1-12 and 13-24. Each volume is about $30.00. The print is small but the commentary in the back of the book is excellent, perhaps the best available. I found the small Greek print discouraging. Perhaps you can just use the commentary from Willcock's book and the Greek text from some other book.

The second is Selections from Homer's Iliad, by Allen Rogers Bender, also available from Amazon and Bookfinder, for under $25.00. The book has all of Book 1, 3, 9, and I forget what else. The total text is about one-third of the Iliad, the selections are well chosen, and there is a vocabulary in the back. I prefer Bender because of the Greek typeface, the large Porson font. It makes all the difference to someone struggling with vocabulary. Bender's commentary is ok, but not as good as that of Willcock.

The third is Pamela Draper's Iliad I, which covers only the first book of the Iliad. It has all the vocabulary, grammar, and scansion notes on the bottom of the page and on the facing page. It is about $45.00, and available on Amazon. The typeface is not the large Porson font, but is close to the font used in the green and yellow texts.

And finally, I can recommend two English translations of the Iliad that are a big help for the most trying passages: the Richmond Lattimore translation and the Ennis Rees translation. Lattimore comes close to an interlinear translation, but I find the verse stilted and the six-beat line prosaic. Rees is very close to the Greek and very helpful, and he uses a five-beat line. The Rees translation is more colorful, and is my favorite.

George Escher