The Iliad

Gillian Cross's brilliant retelling and Neil Packer's glorious illustrations bring to life Homer's Iliad, one of the greatest stories ever told. The team behind The Odyssey (2012) now tell the story of the Trojan War. Cross's vivid adaptation begins with a beauty contest: the prize, a golden apple. In return for securing her victory, the goddess Aphrodite helps Prince Paris abduct Helen, wife to the king of Sparta. Enraged, the king and his Greek allies wage war on the Trojans. Nine years later, the fighting still rages on, but the Greeks are beginning to quarrel among themselves – Achilles and Agamemnon's petty argument has dire consequences for everyone caught in the crossfire. Neil Packer's pictures capture the beauty and remoteness of the setting, and bring a profound humanity to one of the finest literary achievements of Greek civilisation.