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.

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.