The most authoritative scholars examine the Bible of the Greeks as a work of literature, a historical-archaeological document and a story of lasting popularity.
Ten essays by leading specialists and sixty thorough profiles of the works on display are included in the catalogue of an exhibition that presents Homer’s narrative with unprecedented philological rigor. We meet the heroes and gods face to face, immortalized in marble statues, while ancient urns and more recent paintings from Pompeii narrate the events of the eleventh year of the war between the Greeks and Trojans: images that are almost as captivating as the words of this true encyclopedia of the ancient world. The fury of Achilles, the guile of Ulysses, the weakness of Patroclus, the nobility of spirit of Hector, the pain of Priam still move us deeply because the motivations of these characters are the same values we still cherish today: courage, piety, honor, friendship. Some of the authoritative contributions examine the structure of the poem, the starting point for the literature of all eras, and the figure of Homer, while others focus on the ancient society portrayed in the work. Ample space has been devoted to studies on the iconography of the Iliad in ancient times and its continuing popularity in later eras. Finally, there is a “feminist” look at the role of women and love in the context of a warrior aristocracy.