The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry

The Best of the Achaeans is indispensable to anyone interested in archaic Greek literature, especially Greek Epic. One will find in it unique insights and useful information about multiples aspects of the hero. Nagy's original thinking and mastery of historical linguistics allows him to perceive connections unnoticed or overlooked by most classicists.

I read the first edition of this book in the early 80s when I was in college, and I have to say that few books stimulated my thought about Greek literature and language as well as this book did. Nagy's thesis is interesting and contoversial (there was quite a bit of debate about it in successive issues of the NY Review of Books), and while I don't wish to give a synopsis of his main points without having read the book in such a long time, I can assure you that his intellectual rigour and clear, beautiful writing will, at the least, help you to new perspectives on the Iliad and the Odyssey. I'm buying myself a new copy right now!