This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor.

I'm John Batchelor, and I welcome Professor Emily Wilson. Her new work is the Iliad, a translation in iambic pentameter for those of us in the 21st century

who do not have the original or any Greek whatsoever.

It's a pleasure to welcome the professor and to thank her for how she has worked so diligently,

not only to present in English all the depths of Greek language with the nuance,

but also to make it easy to read on the page and to hear it read by the extremely talented

and gifted Audrey MacDonald in the audible.com version. I recommend having the book in front of you as you listen to the reading.

Not only will all the pronunciations come through, but the music, the beat, helps a deal to understand the comedy and the tragedy.

Professor, congratulations. I understand this is a lifetime's work. You've been at this since you were in high school.

It is a pleasure to begin, however, in history. Where was Troy and how did we come to seeking Troy and Priam's treasure 150 years ago? And what do we know about that city today? Good evening to you.

Good evening to you. It's lovely to talk to you. So Troy is on, it's in what's now Turkey. It's on

the Dardanelles. In antiquity, it was called the Hellespont, and you can go visit the ruins of Troy today.

And archaeologists have been working since the 19th century to uncover the ruins of Troy

and have realized that there were many, many layers of settlements after settlements after settlements on that same spot,

which was clearly a rich, thriving

city in several periods of antiquity. And the city itself layer after layer after layer,

layer down. And sometimes I would get lost about how many layers down you go, what time period

we're looking for.

The Iliad is make-believe.

It's a work of invention.

So Schleiman, for example, the great German archaeologist, did he believe the Iliad was based on fact?

Was he looking for what in biblical studies is known as Heilske Schichter,

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