In 2002, the University of Michigan Press published Rodney Merrill's translation of "Homer's Odyssey", a version of the classic that was unique in employing dactylic hexameter, the meter of Homer's original. Merrill has now produced an edition of "Homer's Iliad", following the same approach. This form of rendering is particularly relevant to the Iliad, producing a strong musical setting which many elements of the narrative required to come truly to life. Most notable are the many battle scenes, to which the strong meter gives an impetus embodying and making credible the "war-lust" in the deeds of the combatants.

Author Biography

For many years, until his retirement, Rodney Merrill taught English composition and comparative literature at Stanford and Berkley. In addition to his translation of Homer's Odyssey, he is the author of Chaucer's Broche of Thebes.