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

Edith Hall traces the roots of our modern environmental crisis through a radical reinterpretation of Homer's Iliad, revealing how this ancient epic simultaneously documents the environmental practices of early Greece and exposes an underlying anxiety about uninhabitable futures. By examining the destruction of the natural landscape beneath Homer's account of war and conflict, Hall argues that the poem both reflects an awareness of ecological danger and may have historically authorized humanity's exploitation of nature. Drawing links to contemporary literature and film, she shows how this foundational text illuminates the long trajectory of environmental degradation and offers crucial insights for understanding—and resisting—the planetary catastrophe we face today.