Iliad, Book 1

Rating:
Summary: P. A. Draper's Iliad I
Review: I have been a student of Greek for over a quarter century. In all that time I have never found a better aid for the study of Homer, whether as a beginner or for a review.

After a brief introduction and explanation of grammar, the student is brought into immediate and satisfying contact with the text of the Iliad. Ms. Draper provides a dozen or so lines of the Greek text on the left-hand page, followed by a line by line vocabulary help and occasional commentary which flows over, as needed, to the right-hand page. She also includes an explanation of any difficult scansion. As a cherry on top, she adds a concise, user-friendly glossary at the back of the book. It is altogether usable.

I have my copy and have been recommending this book to students and friends.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This edition was a good choice for me, a beginner who had just finished an introductory class.

The notes on vocabulary, grammar, and allusions to mythology are on the same and the facing pages as the Greek. This eliminates flipping through a dictionary or the back of the book - although there is, in fact, a complete glossary in one of the appendices.

The editor includes "scanning notes" at the bottom of each page to help the uninitiated deal with dactylic hexameter. I found this very useful because my pronunciation is so bad and I really was not hearing the music of the poem.

There is a good bibliography and suggestions for further reading.

Finally, this edition limits itself to just one book of the entire poem. Arguably, Benner might be a more sensible choice to get more of the poem, but I found it much less daunting to deal with just the first book.