W.-H. Friedrich's Verwundung und Tod in Der Ilias was originally published in 1956. Never before translated into English, its importance has slowly come to be recognised: first, because it discusses in detail the plausibility (or otherwise) of the wounds received on the Homeric battlefield and is therefore of considerable interest to historians of medicine; and second, because it makes a serious and sustained effort to grapple with the question of style, and thus confronts an issue which oral theory has scarcely touched.

Peter Jones adds a Preface briefly locating the work within the terms of oral theory; Kenneth Saunders (Emeritus Professor of Medicine at St George's Hospital Medical School, London) updates Friedrich's medical analyses in a full Appendix.

Wolf-Hartmut Friedrich (1907-2000), was an ‘ordentlicher' emeritierter professor in Göttingen, member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen since 1953.
Peter Jones is one of the best-known figures in the teaching and appreciation of the Classics. Co-founder of Friends of Classics, he has published widely on Homer and is a regular contributor to national newspapers.
Gabriele Wright studied English, Classics and Italian at Cologne and Princeton and has taught Greek at Newcastle University.