wfbush's Journal: The Illiad and The Odyssey

Recently finished reading both of these, the Emil V. Rieu translations (The Odyssey was updated by his son, D.C.H. Rieu).

Recommendation: read The Odyssey first, even though The Illiad comes first chronologically. The Illiad is very lyrical (not surprising given the source), especially when describing someone's brutal slaying on the battlefield, but compared to the Odyssey it's dreadfully dull. There's simply not much plot - just fight, fight, talk, talk, fight a bunch more... Once you've been introduced to the style and some of the characters in The Odyssey, you can read The Illiad specifically for the lyrical writing.