Readers who enjoy or aspire to more fully appreciate the work of Homer will find in Homer and His Iliad a treasured, entertaining, and knowledgeable companion in author Robin Lane Fox (Travelling Heroes; The Classical World), winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. Lane Fox's investigation is vast in scope and addresses controversies and conflicts that have attended Homeric scholarship throughout the centuries, including when the Iliad came into being, whether it was authored by a single individual, and how the material was composed and intended to be performed. He also provides a bracing discussion of orally composed narrative poetry. His analysis and insight shine equally brightly when he turns to the literary craft of the narrative itself, demonstrating how storytelling conventions mixed with the skill of the author to create this enduring masterpiece. One such example illustrates the humor Lane Fox injects into what, in other hands, could be a dry academic work: "The heroes' diet of meat was probably not Homer's own invention, but by making it their exclusive diet he gave a sense of epic distance to their world. It was out of the question for a hero to be a vegan."
Homer and His Iliad is for readers who wish to engage with this timeless classic and appreciate that, as Lane Fox puts it: "The values of the Iliad are not a remote historical oddity. Shame and fame, honour, rage, and disgrace engage us because they are still at large." --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.