My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A beautiful edition of Tryphiodorus’s tale of the destruction of Troy with an in-depth introduction, English translation by Merrick with copious notes, and the original Greek text with a Latin translation below it. The story follows the sack of Troy from just before the Trojan horse to when the Greek forces leave Troy for the last time.

Tryphiodorus’s tale starts out slow but builds as we get into the poem. It is not Homer, but he tells a tale that if you know the story, you will enjoy his telling. And there are moments when it shines. The description of the Trojan horse, how it is brought into the city and Helen’s attempt to get the Greeks hiding inside to give themselves away are exciting and beautifully sketched. Tryphiodorus gives moving and chilling descriptions of the joyous celebration of the Trojans at the Greek “departure” and then the violence that flowed through the streets as the sack was at its height.

Possibly the best thing of the volume I read were the notes. They were detailed, exciting, full of material explaining the text, issues surrounding the events and the creation of the text, etc. In one example, the note on p. 96 discusses the controversy of whether Odysseus strangled and killed Anticlus while they hid in the Trojan horse. Tryphiodorus story says that’s what happened and he was backed up by the texts of Ovid and others. However, other scholars, such as Spondanus (Jean de Sponde), have said that Odysseus just kept his hand over his mouth while Helen called out. Such discussions in the notes made this book come even more alive, as though it were a lecture in and of itself. Perhaps that’s how learning progressed among scholars at that time. It still works today. For me, this book was truly an enjoyable experience.