Did you know The Iliad is really good? Because The Iliad is really good and Emily Wilson's new translation is ALSO really good, readable and rhythmic and fiercely violent in the way a lot of ancient poetry could be. If you're hot for translation notes, Wilsons are incredibly comprehensive, with an introduction of approximately 75 pages and backmatter of 150ish pages. Do you want to know about the geography of probably actual Troy or the opinions of previous translators or even critics who would have been roughly contemporaries of Homer, or how many sons Priam has (it's at least 50)? Wilson's got you covered, baby.
One of the most fascinating things about actually sitting down to read The Iliad is how much of the cultural knowledge of the Trojan War story doesn't come from The Iliad. It takes place a decade into the war so there's none of the golden apple judgment of goddesses stuff. It ends before Troy falls, so the horse doesn't fall. It's just the bloody story of a long war and the sacrifices the men involved are willing to make and why.
It's also the story of how Agamemnon sucks.
God, does he suck.