Synopses & Reviews
HOMER SPEAKS -- LISTEN UP! More than 3,000 years after the fall of Troy, here at last is a rendition of the Homeric epic that everybody can understand and appreciate. The world can't hear Homer speak his own words, but Stanley Lombardo is the next best thing. Reading his own acclaimed (unabdriged) translations, Lombardo's insightful rendition takes advantage of the rhythms and other poetic resources of everyday American speech. The result provides cinematic and performance qualities to the time-honored poetry -- sharp scene cuts, dynamic language, urgency of the characters (human and divine). His virtuoso performance in these audiobooks reflects years of experience before a wide variety of audiences -- beautifully paced, shaped, intoned, and acted throughout.
"The definitive English version of Homer for our time." -- Common Review
"The excellence of Lombardo's performance can't be lauded too much. There's no other translator of the world's greatest poetry that is also a world-class reader." -- Douglass Parker, University of Texas at Austin
"Just the right degree of involvement or detachment as each circumstance in the reading calls for." -- William Levitan, Grand Valley State University
"Remarkably true to the centrality of performance in Homer, the varied pacing and tone, the clarity, speed, narrative drive, and moments of breathtaking beauty." -- Rachel Hadas, Rutgers University
"The quality of Stan's voice, which has an honest, unshowy American core, makes these performances sound fresh, intimate, and believable --very different from those theatricized oral interpretations that overplay the 'epic' note. Altogether this is as good as Homer gets in English." -- Richard P. Martin, Stanford University
STANLEY LOMBARDO is Professor of Classics at Kansas University.
Review
Great poetry is best heard, not just read, and these two CD sets of Homer’s epic works are exemplars of the spoken word. Stanley Lombardo, professor of classics at the University of Kansas, is among the leading scholars of Homer, and here reads his own translation of the
Iliad and the
Odyssey in their entirety. Each recorded set includes a booklet with a map of Homer’s storied world; synopses of each book in the work, which are read by actress Susan Sarandon; and a glossary of personal and place names. Lombardo’s voice is wonderfully resonant and expressive—he is also a performer—and together with the original music, beautifully evokes the world of the Trojan War and Odysseus’ journey home. These productions from Parmenides Publishing, which specializes in Western philosophy, are a class act.
—Lori D. Kranz, THE BLOOMSBURY REVIEW (Nov/Dec 2006)Listeners expecting boring poetry will be astonished by translator and reader Lombardo’s reading of the classic poem in modern language and colloquial jargon. Susan Sarandon introduces each book of the poem. In a breathtaking performance, Lombardo retains the majesty and well-loved images of this ancient story of the Greeks battling the Trojans. —Joyce Saricks, Listen-alikes: Revisiting the Classics, BOOKLIST REVIEW (Nov 2007)
Ably translated and expertly narrated by Stanley Lombardo, Iliad is a flawlessly recorded, complete and unabridged audio presentation of the timeless and classical Greek tale of the Trojan War ascribed to the blind poet Homer. Enhanced with an introduction read by Susan Sarandon, this audio book edition of the Iliad fully captures the epic nature of this story of an ancient tragedy. A "must" for school and community library audiobook collections, this Parmenides Audio 12 CD, 15 hour edition of the Iliad is enthusiastically recommended for all listeners searching for an engaging, entertaining, and memorable reading of the classic work. Also very highly recommended as translated by Stanley Lombardo and featuring equally insightful synopses from Susan Sarandon, is Homer's Odyssey.
—Midwest Book Review (Volume 16, Number 7; July 2006)
Review
Having felt a newfound appetite for the Trojan War, I turned promptly to the recently recorded Iliad as translated by Stanley Lombardo (Parmenides Audio, 15 hours, 12 CDs, $42, www.parmenidesaudio.com). Susan Sarandon reads an introduction by Tom Palaima as well as synopses of each book, all of which are included in a useful little booklet. Lombardo, a veteran of many performances of his translation, delivers the poem himself in a well-modulated, walnutty voice that occasionally roars out dramatically to handle the more exuberant, even bumptious, passages. "I can't wait," Telamonian Ajax cries, "to wrap my hands/ Around a spear. I'm all pumped up and my feet/ Are flying beneath me. Bring on Hector."
Yes, these Greeks are real guys. Still, Lombardo's translation and delivery are not without pomp, but there again that pomp is not without a certain op-ed quality: "RAGE," Book One begins, " Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,/ Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks/ incalculable pain." Incalculable pain? I found myself laughing at the outrageous pedestrianism of certain parts. ("Hector, you always lay into me in assembly.") On the other hand, the poem is the furthest thing from boring, and the drum and violin music that punctuates the episodes, composed by Vincent Castaldo, is splendid, evoking that which is ancient, menacing and tragic.
—Katherine A. Powers, The Washington Post (Sunday, November 12, 2006)
The definitive English version of Homer for our time. —Common Review
Review
The excellence of Lombardo's performance can't be lauded too much. There's no other translator of the world's greatest poetry that is also a world-class reader.—
Douglass Parker, University of Texas at AustinJust the right degree of involvement or detachment as each circumstance in the reading calls for.—William Levitan, Grand Valley State University
Remarkably true to the centrality of performance in Homer, the varied pacing and tone, the clarity, speed, narrative drive, and moments of breathtaking beauty.—Rachel Hadas, Rutgers University
The quality of Stan's voice, which has an honest, unshowy American core, makes these performances sound fresh, intimate, and believable—very different from those theatricized oral interpretations that overplay the 'epic' note. Altogether this is as good as Homer gets in English.—Richard P. Martin, Stanford University
Review
Match The Iliad by Homer, read by Stanley Lombardo (12 CDs. retail ed. Parmenides Audio. 2006. ISBN 978-1-930972-08-7. $42), to a long straight drive with nothing much to see so that you can safely sink into the meter. Homer’s dark meditation features the rage and regret of Achilles during the Trojan War, at the siege of Ilium. The epic was meant to be recited aloud, and Lombardo’s spellbinding narration acts as a time capsule, hurling listeners back to the heroic age and placing them in the presence of a master storyteller. His voice slips into chant, rises and crests with the terrible violence of battle, and shifts into pure incantation as Homer transitions into the emotional caverns of the story.
- Neal Wyatt, Library Journal
Synopsis
The selections have been made with an eye toward keeping the major characters, events, and themes in clear focus.
Synopsis
The classics are rapidly receding from public consciousness, and modern revisions of them, such as the film
O Brother, Where Art Thou, are in genuine danger of never being linked to their original inspiration. Noted classicist Stanley Lombardo breathes new life into one of the most famous and beloved ancient works with an engaging and vibrant audio performance of Homer's
Iliad. This state-of-the-art compact disc recording provides high-quality access to one of the greatest works in world literature.
"Gripping . . . Lombardo’s achievement is all the more striking when you consider the difficulties of his task . . . He manages to be respectful of Homer’s dire spirit while providing . . . some wonderfully fresh refashioning of his Greek. The result is a vivid and disarmingly hardbitten reworking of a great classic."—Daniel Mendelsohn, The New York Times Book Review
More than 3,000 years after the fall of Troy, here at last is a rendition of the Homeric epic that everybody can understand and appreciate. The world can't hear Homer speak his own words, but Stanley Lombardo is the next best thing. Reading his own acclaimed (unabdriged) translations, Lombardo's insightful rendition takes advantage of the rhythms and other poetic resources of everyday American speech. The result provides cinematic and performance qualities to the time-honored poetry—sharp scene cuts, dynamic language, urgency of the characters (human and divine). His virtuoso performance in these audiobooks reflects years of experience before a wide variety of audiences—beautifully paced, shaped, intoned, and acted throughout.
Stanley Lombardo is a Professor of Classics at Kansas University
Synopsis
HOMER SPEAKS –
LISTEN UP! More than 3,000 years after the fall of Troy, here at last is a rendition of the Homeric epic that everybody can understand and appreciate. The world can't hear Homer speak his own words, but Stanley Lombardo is the next best thing. Reading his own acclaimed (unabdriged) translations, Lombardo's insightful rendition takes advantage of the rhythms and other poetic resources of everyday American speech. The result provides cinematic and performance qualities to the time-honored poetry—sharp scene cuts, dynamic language, urgency of the characters (human and divine). His virtuoso performance in these audiobooks reflects years of experience before a wide variety of audiences—beautifully paced, shaped, intoned, and acted throughout.
Stanley Lombardo is a Professor of Classics at Kansas University
Synopsis
Before Greece had tragedy, comedy, history, or even formal schools, there was Homer. Greeks, young and old, learned about the realities of life by hearing separate episodes from Homer sung at public festivals, and then remembering the stories through the power of song. What they remembered was what mattered most.
These epics offered bluntly honest views of life. Think of that as you are listening to Stanley Lombardo. When he performs Homer, we feel what Bob Dylan calls the 'inner substance of great folk songs, their pulse and vibration and rumbling force.' We grasp the power words had before books, movies, and iPods. Homer taught the ancient Greeks about life, death, love, and war. Now in Lombardo's words and voice, Homer teaches us, too.
- Tom Palaima, University of of Texas at Austin
About the Author
Though he is traditionally credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, there is no reliable information about an actual, historical Homer. In antiquity, he was an honored figure, despite little being known about his life or even his era; he was credited then with several other shorter works in addition to the two epics. Current scholarship tends to view the poems as the work of many hands over many years, with differing opinions on the role and importance of any single figure in their creation or promulgation.