XXX. Rage (or What is Achilles’s Problem?): the Iliad by Homer

Desperate Readers

XXX. Rage (or What is Achilles’s Problem?): the Iliad by Homer

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XXX. Rage (or What is Achilles’s Problem?): the Iliad by Homer

Tatiana and Niko

Oct 19, 2023

What's Achilles's problem? Can we understand the classical mind? Tatiana and Niko read (arguably) the first book in the Western Canon, Homer's Iliad. They discuss glory, Homeric similes, and how war shapes our perspective on life. All your favorite Greek heroes are here!

Small corrections: at around minute 19, Niko says 'Achilles's house' instead of 'Odysseus's house,' and around minute 26, Tatiana says Hector instead of Patroclus.

Want to read along? Find out BookShop link here: https://bookshop.org/shop/desperatereaders

Homer for Desperate Readers

Achilles and Ajax playing dice

Emily Wilson

End of the introduction to Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad.

Discussion about this podcast

Desperate Readers

Tatiana and Niko meet together to discuss great literature of the past and present. In each episode they read a book of contemporary world literature and pair it with a canonical western classic to delve into shared literary themes and questions that writers keep returning to across space and time.

and Twitter: @DesperateReads

Sound recording and editing by Niko and Tatiana

Opening music by Seth Thomsen

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