I finally read this....

To think this story has come to us after nearly 3000 years is impressive in itself. It is worth reading simply as a piece of history. It captures part of an epic tale in an era of glory and bloodlust and of battles that lasted years, and we learn much of their time and culture.

Taken purely as a story, however, it falls short. For all its length, not much happens, and we are left hanging just before the sacking of Troy and the use of the wooden horse, and of the much-foretold death of Achilles. There are many long, repetitious, flowery speeches outside and in the middle of battles, which at first are poetic, but after a few hours they get tiring. Plus it's hard to imagine warriors locked in mortal combat speaking to each other in this way. There is little suspense, because if you aren't already familiar with the tale of Achilles, there is a lead-in to each chapter that tells you what is going to happen in it.

Most frustrating of all, the gods are constantly interfering. Seriously, every few minutes some god does something to mess with the lives of our heroes. As with all deus ex machina, the struggles of mortal characters become pointless. At one point Zeus says "let us leave the mortals to fight it out among themselves" but none of the gods actually do, including him.

Apparently the original story was written in meter like Shakespeare, but that wasn't preserved in my translation. Pity. It seemed faithful otherwise.

I would say this story is important reading for any fantasy author, like Tolkien or Brooks. Maybe what we need is a retelling in a modern form (would that be sacrilege?).