Epic of the Earth

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 som