Preferred Translation of Iliad/Odyssey

[von bek]

Hello, all.

I have loved both the Iliad and the Odyssey since I was a kid. I remember getting my first copy of the Iliad when I was in Middle School. That translation was done by Robert Fagles and I strongly recommend it, especially for your first reading. Now, as the years have passed, I have read several translations of both epics. My personal favorites are the ones by Fagles and the translations by Robert Fitzgerald. In some ways I prefer Fitzgerald over Fagles as he sticks to the Greek more for how he depicts names.

Does anyone have a personal favorite translation?

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I encountered Homer at the same age. My choice is quite different, however — Alexander Pope.

O Smintheus! sprung from fair Latona's line,
Thou guardian power of Cilla the divine,
Thou source of light! whom Tenedos adores,
And whose bright presence gilds thy Chrysa's shores.
If e'er with wreaths I hung thy sacred fane,
Or fed the flames with fat of oxen slain,
God of the silver bow! thy shafts employ,
Avenge thy servant, and the Greeks destroy.

 

[von bek]

I encountered Homer at the same age. My choice is quite different, however — Alexander Pope.

O Smintheus! sprung from fair Latona's line,
Thou guardian power of Cilla the divine,
Thou source of light! whom Tenedos adores,
And whose bright presence gilds thy Chrysa's shores.
If e'er with wreaths I hung thy sacred fane,
Or fed the flames with fat of oxen slain,
God of the silver bow! thy shafts employ,
Avenge thy servant, and the Greeks destroy.

Apollo shooting down the Greek army with plague is one of my favorite scenes of the poem because of its emotional power. Think about the frustration and desperation of the Achaean troops, ten long years of fighting outside the walls of Troy, hoping for glory. Now, death comes for them; but, no honor awaits one who dies choking from disease. I also love Apollo responding so swiftly to his priest's pleas for justice.