Iliad

The Iliad by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, 594 pages

The Iliad is the classic epic story of the pride of Agamemnon, the cunning of Odysseus, the courage of Diomedes and Aias, the tragedies of Patroklos and Hektor, the tears of Akhilleus and Priam, and the war of gods and men.  Taking place during an eventful few weeks in the ten year long Trojan War, it begins with a confrontation between Agamemnon, the Greek commander, and Akhilleus, the greatest Greek warrior.  Akhilleus withdraws from battle as a consequence, and the Trojans are able to press their advantage, driving the Greeks back all the way to their ships.  The story ends with tragedy for everyone involved, as was fated from the start.

Homer's genius is such that he is able to comprehend seemingly contradictory attitudes.  War is both glorious and horrible.  Men have their own wills and powers but their destinies are also determined by the gods.  The final scene, when the doomed king encounters the equally doomed warrior who slew his son, is one of the great moments in literature.  Even minor characters (and there are dozens of them) are given their moments -  Hektor's farewell to his wife Andromache and their infant son, Antilochus cutting off Menelaos during a chariot race, the river Skamander striving to drown Akhilleus for clogging his course with corpses, Diomedes challenging the gods themselves and prevailing.  Despite this, the only times the narrative slows its pace is in the early catalog of the opposing forces and the later detailed description of Akhilleus' armor.

Some of that brisk pace is the product of Robert Fitzgerald's admirable translation which, though not as acclaimed as his translation of The Odyssey, still set the standard for a modern Iliad.