Edith Hall Reads Homer's Iliad Through an Environmental Lens in Epic of the Earth

In her 2025 publication, Epic of the Earth: Reading Homer's "Iliad" in the Fight for a Dying World, classicist Edith Hall highlights the neglected environmental history within the Iliad. Utilizing ecocriticism, she explores literature's portrayal of nature and humanity's connection to it. Hall examines the ecological implications of the epic's heroic narrative, detailing the timber used for ships and the resources required for bronze weaponry, linking environmental degradation to labor issues, social inequality, and imperialism. Notably, while bronze is mentioned nearly a thousand times, the poem lacks a depiction of a foundry, showcasing literature's power of omission. Hall also argues that the Iliad, composed around the 8th century BCE and attributed to Homer, has influenced perceptions of war and human nature. Her latest work, Medea: A Life, also from Yale University Press, delves into the complexities of the mythological figure Medea, tracing her journey from Colchis to Athens, beyond her infamous act of filicide.