Homer’s great poem begins with the origins of the strife between King Agamemnon and the supreme warrior Achilles that brought the Greek army to the brink of defeat on the plains and seashores in front of the city of Troy. Hear the opening in Greek and follow an English translation here.


The latest in Pantheon Poets’ Latin (and Greek) selections is of poems of travel by Catullus, Homer, Ovid and Virgil; enjoy it here.

As Hercules sets sail in the bowl of Helios, enjoy this selection of Latin (and Greek) poems about travel, starting with the voyage and later retirement of
Catullus’s brave little yacht.
A pioneering flight comes to a sad end for
Icarus and his father Daedalus.
At the end of another sad journey,
Catullus says farewell to his brother.
At the beginning of the greatest classical epic of travel,
As he prepares reluctantly to part from Dido, preparations are in hand for
Aeneas’s departure from Carthage.
Ovid describes an unexpected journey for
Aeneas embarks on his most challenging trip, his