Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of 'The Iliad'

In the book Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff, she rewrites the story of Homer's Iliad for young readers. Many of the characters include royalty and warriors from Sparta and Troy as well as Greek gods who liked to interfere in their lives. It retells the story of the Trojan war, the Iliad by Homer. The Trojan war was a fight over the beautiful Helen. In the end the Greeks construct a huge wooden horse, which they leave behind as a war token. What happens after, you will have to read it. The Iliad is a book about a man's attractiveness to physical beauty and obsession over it. One of the main characters, Paris, is attracted to a woman named Helen, and steals her from another man, Menelaus. This sparks the Trojan War that lasts ten years. After ten years of fierce battles, Paris and Menelaus agree to fight to the death over Helen. Whoever wins will get to marry her. Also in the book is the story of Achilles. Achilles is a strong and brave fighter. Menelaus realizes he can't win the Trojan War without Achilles. During the war Achilles falls in love and gets distracted during all the long battles. He eventually loses the love of his life, and leaves the battlefield upset. The author Rosemary Sutcliff has written two books made for young adults, one is the Iliad, and the other is the Odyssey, both by Homer. This book is easy to read because it’s so interesting and has short chapters. If you like this genre, it’s very engaging. Like a Greek tragedy, it story transcends all time periods and issues. It's a very interesting book, and I did not want to put it down because it’s a good introduction to Greek mythology. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I plan on reading her second book. In the end I would definitely recommend this book to someone who likes Greek mythology, or interested in battles.

We all know that as literate adults we should read the Iliad. I did, back in college. But now I have a teenage son, and we're studying Ancient Greece right now. I just couldn't bring myself to make him read the full version yet, so I shopped for an alternate version. After reading scores of reader reviews of various books, I settled on this one. And, boy, am I glad I did! When the Amazon box arrived (don't you just love getting those boxes?) I picked up Black Ships to take a look before I passed it to my son. But I didn't hand it over until I'd read the whole thing! It's fabulous! Remember when you read the Iliad, how hard it was to keep track of all the different characters, and who had offended whom, and who came from where, and all those little details? That, on top of deciphering the archaic language form, made the reading somewhat tedious. Interesting, yes, but it took effort! This version was so much more fun. I didn't have to keep flipping back and forth in order to keep up, and the story just surged along. Furthermore, Sutcliff manages to keep the flavor of the original tome intact, using vivid prose. My son is enjoying it so far, too - he's reading it of his own free will! And I believe his experience will be positive enough that when it comes time to read Iliad and Odyssey, he will be excited. (And actually read the full version and not some abridged form or, heaven forbid... Cliff Notes!!!) So, if you just want to brush up on your memory of the Iliad, or introduce it to some reluctant reader, or you have a child in mind, then I highly recommend this book. She's done a fantastic job. One caveat, this version does not have illustrations...

A children's book perhaps, but not childish. This introduction to Homer's masterpiece retains much of the grim battle-violence, the female captives, and the complex supernatural interventions found in the original. It's certainly appropriate for children 9 and older, and teens and adults should enjoy it too. I certainly did. Miss Sutcliff's book retains the epic tone of the original, that Indo-European bronze-age feel that distinguishes it from the Odyssey. She seems sympathetic toward the Trojans, and portrays Hector as the epic's true hero, perhaps, rather than the immature, divine-protected Achilles. I bought the un-illustrated paperback as a Christmas present for my son, who is enjoying it as a bed-time story. I'm sure the illustrations in other versions are very fine, but the Iliad does not require illustration any more than flowers require gilding, so I am content with my choice. Highly recommended - will expand your child's horizons in a way that the Wimpy Kid books cannot.

Love this book, wish the pages were that shiny material thay they were when I was a kid.

Black Ships Before Troy is one of many retellings of The Iliad. This one rises to the status of special keepsake. The text is wonderful, suitable for a read aloud or for an older elementary student to read alone. But the pictures are just stunning, and they really make the book what it is. These are the type of storybooks you want to keep for your grandchildren one day. We recently read through this, and my child said, they should do one of these for The Odyssey. I was able to pull out The Wanderings of Odysseus by the same author and illustrator, and he happily ran off with it! Seal of approval from him as well. :)

Great book for children interested in mythology. I was a bit surprised on the length of the book coming in at 19 chapters. It's not a read it all in one sitting type of book. We ended up reading one chapter a night. The illustrations are very detailed and engaging. The story stayed pretty well to the original, mostly agreed upon narrative while toning down some of the more inappropriate content that may be a little too much for young ears. 7 year old son loved reading it every night before bed.

Having been brought up in a strong Classical background I was a little nervous of a "modern children's version" of the Illiad. I shouldn't have worried. I actually bought BLACK SHIPS for an undergraduate that I was tutoring on sources of modern British literature, but my 7 year old daughter took it away before I could get it to the college. I worried at first that Clare might be scared by some of the very dramatic pictures, but she was enthralled with the whole story and kept coming back to it for days afterwards. I should add that my undergrad was also entranced once I finnaly got it to her and felt that it compared very well with the complete translation of the original that we also read. New age? Hardly! This is a scholarly-but-fun-interpretaion of a gem.

Very food book for 5th grade

Good for 10+ years old I would say; the language is a bit flowery but momentum is maintained throughout the narrative. Death and violent scenes feature heavily, so, depending on the child, some caution may be required. The follow-on account of the Odyssey by the same author and illustrator is also superb (but sadly out of print at present).

Excellent book

Conoscevo già il libro per le magistrali illustrazioni ad acquarello di Alan Lee, ma non è facilmente reperibile in Italia. Ho colto quindi l'occasione della ristampa per regalarlo a mio fratello ( anche lui fan di Alan Lee) e il libro non ha deluso le nostre aspettative! Anche l'adattamento dell' Iliade è molto accurato, e potrebbe essere un buon modo per avvicinare i ragazzi delle medie e del liceo ai testi omerici e all'inglese simultaneamente. Il libro è in grande formato e ha una bella copertina rigida cartonata.

Nice small paperback you can read anywhere. Beautiful telling of this classic story.

Rosemary Sutcliffe is an author that I was unfamiliar with until quite recently. Having now read a number of her books I feel I have discovered one of the very best authors I could hope to read. Accessible to both children and adults - this book is in my view the best modern version of the Siege of Troy. Accessible,easy to read,exciting and intelligentlly written. In parts reminiscent of the Illiad itself but covering what I would call the whole story from start to finish. An excellent introduction to the classic Greek story but more than that, a wonderful read in its own right. I look forward to reading more of her work. Those into audio books have a treat in store if they purchase the audio book. Beautifully read.