Epic of the Earth

Reading Homer’s ""Iliad"" in the Fight for a Dying World

Edith Hall

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Hardback

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English

Yale University
26 May 2025

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Literary studies: classical, early & medieval; Literary studies: poetry & poets; The environment

An urgent study of Homer's Iliad, exposing the beginnings of the ecological disaster we now face and facilitating our understanding of its history

The roots of today's environmental catastrophe run deep into humanity's past. Through this unprecedented reading of Homer's Iliad, the award-winning classicist Edith Hall examines how this foundational text both documents the environmental practices of the ancient Greeks and betrays an awareness of the dangers posed by the destruction of the natural landscape. Underlying Homer's account of brutal military operations, alliances, and cataclysmic struggle is a palpable understanding that the direction in which humanity was headed could create a world that was uninhabitable.

Hall provides unparalleled insight into the ancient origins of climate change and argues that the Iliad exposes the deepest contradictions behind the environmental problems we have created. Indeed, it is possible that some of the violence done to the environment throughout history has been authorized, if not exacerbated, by the celebration of the exploitation of nature in Homer's poem. Drawing compelling analogies to contemporary poetry, literature, and film, Hall demonstrates that the Iliad, as a priceless document of the mindset of early humans, can help us understand the long history of ecological degradation and inspire activism to rescue our planet from disaster.

By: Edith Hall
Imprint: Yale University
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780300275582
ISBN 10: 0300275587
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 26 May 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Edith Hall is a professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University. She is the author of numerous books, including Facing Down the Furies: Suicide, the Ancient Greeks, and Me. She lives in Cambridgeshire, UK.

Reviews for Epic of the Earth: Reading Homer’s ""Iliad"" in the Fight for a Dying World

“Our planet is in a potentially disastrous state - to help us rescue it, brilliant classicist Edith Hall offers a startlingly original ecocritical reading of a foundational text, the Iliad of Homer. The conjunction of Homer and Hall is earthshatteringly revelatory.”—Paul Cartledge, author of Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece Edith Hall’s Epic of the Earth not only offers a powerful reading of the Iliad, but also opens up new possibilities for reading ancient texts as landmarks in the history of environmental destruction.""—Jason König, author of The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture ""Captivating, compelling, and detailed, as only the inimitable Edith Hall can do. This is a deep dive and unique take on the Iliad and the lessons that it may hold for us and our future, written from an ecocritical point of view.""—Eric H. Cline, author of After 1177 B.C. “Edith Hall offers a compelling new reading of The Iliad, revealing its deep immersion in the natural world and its profound fear of environmental catastrophe. Hall brilliantly shows that The Iliad is indeed a poem for the Anthropocene.”—Brycchan Carey, author of The Unnatural Trade: Slavery, Abolition, and Environmental Writing, 1650-1807