The Iliad, by Gareth Hinds, is a beautiful adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. The story is told in a way that honors the style of the classic, and it maintains a lyrical feel throughout. Hinds is both author and illustrator of this graphic novel, and he is skilled at both. The story begins with an appeal to the Muse, in much the same way as a Greek poet would have made a similar appeal. This story is essentially one long battle, interspersed with brief scenes of activities other than fighting, but Hinds resists simply depicting war as a gore-fest. Though gore is plentiful on the pages, the characters’ actions lend a humanity to the scenes that makes the fighting, deaths, and laments meaningful.

Older children and teens will likely find this book enjoyable, as the action is almost non-stop., and so it serves as a great introduction to a classic work of literature. The depiction of the gods and their role in the war provides an element of fantasy that is lacking from many classics and that audiences who are used to many supernatural elements in their literature may find appealing. The author takes the opportunity to encourage his readers to explore the original work if they enjoyed this retelling.

While the story itself is an excellent retelling of The Iliad, what sets this novel apart from other translations and retelling is that it is a graphic novel and, importantly, is one that is written and illustrated with young readers in mind. The illustrations are detailed and elegant, and even those that depict violence and bloodshed convey a sense of heroism and depict a sacredness of human life. The author used several artistic devices to make the heroes easily distinguishable from each other, as well as to indicate what side of the war they are on. In a conflict with so many heroes on both sides and such huge armies and sweeping battlefield terrains, this is very helpful to interpreting the story and keeping up with the action.

The Iliad is a book that is sure to please anyone who is a fan of Greek mythology, history, or literature or who has an interest in those subjects and wants to discover more.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Candlewick Press

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation. Note: “” is used to refer to a place (not tallied).

Violence/Gore:  Much of this book seems like an extended battle scene, but the violence is in a historical/mythological context. Characters participate in sports such as boxing and wrestling; a few verbal threats; several reports of deaths; a prophecy involves many deaths, including the murder of babies; report of a human sacrifice; report of many animals killed needlessly; report of a suicide; characters use magical attacks a few times; a few illustrations of a knife held to an animal’s throat; characters fight with swords and spears and one chokes another; a character shoots another with arrows; characters duel with swords and spears with no major injury; a few battles with many deaths but no graphic details shown; women fight with each other a few times with no major injury; a dead body is shown after a battle; characters are drowned; a dead body is dragged behind a chariot a few times; several characters are killed as part of a ritual; a few extended battle scenes in which many are killed, with blood and graphic injuries and deaths shown in the illustrations, including things such as decapitations, stabbings, and characters run over by chariots; a character’s severed head is shown in an illustration; a character vomits blood after being wounded; a character is killed in a bloody manner in a duel.

Sex/Nudity:  A male character comments that a woman is pleasing to him; characters kiss and hug; mermaid-like creatures are shown with no shirts, but their breasts are obscured by their long hair; a man mentions that he has never slept with a certain woman; women are offered as prizes for victory a few times; magic is used to make one character fall in love with another; a few reports of men or gods seducing women; a woman is summoned to a man’s bedchamber, but what goes on is neither shown nor discussed beyond when she walks in the doorway; a man and a woman sleep together, but it is unclear if they have sex; report of two men going to be with two women, with sex implied.

Mature Subject Matter:

War (Trojan); plagues; slavery; magic in the context of a polytheistic belief system; suicide; death (friend, father, child, sibling).

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Characters drink wine; wine is poured out as a sacrifice; report that wine is fed to horses.