The Iliad · wrath, sing, goddess
- Book IThe plague; Agamemnon takes Achilles' prize, the girl Briseis, and Achilles quits the war; Thetis asks Zeus to avenge her son. ▶ 34 min
- Book IIZeus sends Agamemnon a false dream; Agamemnon tests the army and nearly loses it; the catalogue of the ships and their captains. ▶ 49 min
- Book IIIParis and Menelaus fight a duel for Helen; Helen names the Greek chiefs from the wall; Aphrodite carries Paris off to safety. ▶ 26 min
- Book IVThe gods break the truce with an arrow from Pandarus; Agamemnon reviews his troops; the first day of battle begins. ▶ 31 min
- Book VThe great day of Diomedes, who wounds two gods, Aphrodite and Ares, and drives them from the field. ▶ 51 min
- Book VIGlaucus and Diomedes exchange armor instead of blows; Hector in Troy with his mother Hecuba, with Helen, and with his wife Andromache. ▶ 29 min
- Book VIIHector and Ajax fight a duel to a draw; a truce to bury the dead; the Greeks build a wall around their ships. ▶ 28 min
- Book VIIIZeus forbids the gods to take part; the Trojans win the day and camp on the plain, their watchfires burning until dawn. ▶ 32 min
- Book IXThe embassy to Achilles: Agamemnon offers gifts and Briseis back; Odysseus, Phoenix, and Ajax plead with him, and he refuses. ▶ 40 min
- Book XA night raid: Odysseus and Diomedes catch the Trojan spy Dolon, kill King Rhesus in his sleep, and steal his horses. ▶ 33 min
- Book XIAgamemnon's day of glory; Diomedes, Odysseus, and other Greek chiefs are wounded one by one; Nestor sends Patroclus to plead with Achilles. ▶ 50 min
- Book XIIThe Trojans storm the Greek wall; Sarpedon tears down the rampart, and Hector smashes the gate with a boulder. ▶ 27 min
- Book XIIIWhile Zeus looks away, Poseidon rallies the Greeks in disguise, and the battle for the ships hangs in the balance. ▶ 49 min
- Book XIVHera seduces Zeus and lulls him to sleep; Poseidon turns the tide; Ajax fells Hector with a stone. ▶ 30 min
- Book XVZeus wakes and foretells the end of the war; Apollo levels the wall; Hector reaches the ships and calls for fire. ▶ 43 min
- Book XVIPatroclus fights in Achilles' armor, drives the Trojans from the ships, kills Sarpedon, and dies at Hector's hands. ▶ 51 min
- Book XVIIThe fight over the body of Patroclus; Hector puts on Achilles' armor; Achilles' immortal horses weep for the dead. ▶ 43 min
- Book XVIIIAchilles learns that Patroclus is dead and chooses vengeance over long life; Hephaestus forges him new armor and the great shield. ▶ 35 min
- Book XIXAchilles gives up his wrath against Agamemnon, who blames a goddess; Achilles arms for battle, and his horse foretells his death. ▶ 24 min
- Book XXZeus lets the gods into the fighting; Achilles returns to battle and meets Aeneas and Hector, whom the gods snatch to safety. ▶ 29 min
- Book XXIAchilles fills the river Scamander with the dead, and the river rises against him; the gods brawl; the Trojans flee inside the walls. ▶ 35 min
- Book XXIIHector waits alone outside the gates; Achilles chases him three times around the city and kills him; Priam, Hecuba, and Andromache mourn. ▶ 30 min
- Book XXIIIThe ghost of Patroclus asks for burial; his funeral; the games held in his honor, from the chariot race to the spear-throw. ▶ 52 min
- Book XXIVThe gods order Hector's body returned; Priam crosses the plain at night to ransom his son from Achilles; the burial of Hector. ▶ 46 min
Listen — the poem read aloud, every book, about 15 hours: a player at the head of each book, or subscribe to the podcast feed in any podcast app.
General introduction — the poem, the art of repetition, the Greek text, the English line, and this edition.
Index of names & places — the poem’s principal persons, gods, peoples, and places, with pronunciations and linked citations.
For further reading — the Iliad’s ancient company: the Cycle, the tragedians, the parodies, Rome’s answer, the hoaxes, the scholars.