Favorite Translation?

[Literary_Cat]

What is your favorite translation of the Iliad / Odyssey?

...It's hard to beat Alexander Pope's rhyming couplets for iambic pentametric perfection (if you will), but he's not the only one out there. Thoughts?

[bluevictim]

This seems like a popular topic here. Here is a thread started by another fan of Pope's translation, and there is a comparison between the translations by Fagles and Lattimore of a passage in Book 6 of the Iliad in this thread.

Personally, I think Lattimore's translation is a very good verse translation for modern readers. It is more literal than Fagles' translation, and it is still very readable (I think).

As a work of English literature in itself, I don't think any translation has bested Alexander Pope's heroic couplets, but Pope's translation isn't as useful to a student of Homer because it strays too far from the original.

[storyG]

I just watched the movie, TROY, a Hollywood adaptation of the Iliad, and in spite of the Hollywood glitz, chopping of finer details and lack of chemistry between the actors playing Paris and Helen, the strength of Homer’s original story shines through in this haunting and moving tragedy. (Boy they really knew how to write tragedies in the old days.) I think any translation that doesn’t give you a headache is a good choice. I am thinking of giving it a try myself right now. If you don’t have the time to read the whole thing, and even if you do, by all means watch the movie, TROY. It’s good fun watching Brad Pitt with lots of extra muscles as Achilles wacking much bigger warriors than himself and then falling in love with a Trojan priestess.

For comparison: How does this hold up for those of you just reading the literature? Sure I didn't quite catch every characters name and their spellings, but I think I got the picture. It may even be easier to get the whole picture because you don't get lost in the details in the movie version.

My nutshell Iliad analysis via the movie TROY:

I keep thinking that there are several seceding major acts of love that each precipitate an act of violence . . . through someone or other’s vengeance. No matter how good and how noble the choice to love, the striving to love ends in some tragic act of violence and war once the whole engine of war gets started. Achilles is my hero because he questions authority, the gods, the status quo and the whole king vs. warrior thing even though he acknowledges them and he begins to get at the heart of what causes all the tragedy. Achilles loves even though he ends tragically, so tragically, and of course Achilles love of his own cousin also precipitates Hector’s tragic ending. If the fame of Achilles story was the true mission, we should wish for his truth. So what is wrong with the world? Is love inherently tragic in precipitating these tragedies? I think not. Agememon is nasty warmonger and his brother is a sleezy old dirt bag that marries the beautiful and thus very unhappy young Helen whom Paris rescues in the first act of love which starts a cascade of love induced cause and effect vengeance and violence. The first act starts with these two nasty brothers and perhaps especially Agemenon and the whole distorted ethic of war and love as a hypocritic marriage that are behind all this. It’s so simple it’s almost painful. (I am going through a whole defining evil, devil personified identification as theory thing). Agemenmom and his brother are the devil. Still I think the whole powers and principalities rule still holds true. It is the culture that holds the hypocrisy of marriage above love and loyalty to country/evil king above love that really precipitates all the tragedy, but it is the Spartan brothers are key figures in this episode.

[Ranger Jeff]

I checked out many translations, and came to the following conclusions:

1. If you want poetry, either read the Greek, or read English poetry: Pope, if you want some relationship to the original, or Christopher Logue if you want really great poetry ABOUT the Iliad, not a translation. There are online versions in Greek and with word-for-word translations, but they're awkward.

2. If you want an accurate translation of the story, I think Hammond is better than Lattimore. It's more idiomatic. I liked reading Fagles, but he alters too many things.

[Matthew81]

Hi guys, I was interested in purchasing a copy of The Iliad (after watching Troy), so far it looks as if Fagles and Lattimore are the most well praised. I'm not a scholar of langauges so am more interested in finding an easy to read version that still captures the story, if I'm not mistaken Fagles would be a better option for me rather than Lattimore who I hear is better for study purposes.

I see a free online version by Samuel Butler as well.

Your responses would be greatly appreciated.

[bluevictim]

Matthew81, you don't need to spend a lot of thought on it. Almost all modern versions are adequate (and quite similar), and there is no way to know beforehand whether you will like one over another. I'm sure any of the translations by Fitzgerald, Fagles, Lattimore, or Lombardo will serve you well. After you've finished it, you can come back here and quibble about why your favorite translation is superior. :)

[Matthew81]

Thanks bluevictim!

About within an hour of posting that message I bought the Fagles copy by Penguin UK, on the webpage it said "people who bought this also bought a copy of: The Odyssey" so I purchased a copy of it as well, also published by Penguin UK.

[bluevictim]

You're welcome, Matthew81. I'm glad to see you got the Odyssey, too. Needless to say, reading the Iliad is an entirely different experience from watching Troy; I hope you enjoy it!

[curlyqlink]

I'm a few books into Fagle's translation of The Iliad, and I'm loving it! Very lively, without trying to seem "modern". Elegant and dynamic.

I read Homer's two epics 'way back in college, but I don't remember The Iliad being such a ripping good read...

[JBI]

Lattimore's are boring. I personally like Fagles's, and Fitzgerald's is OK.

[Wilde woman]

I've only read Fitzgerald's translations. I like them, but granted I have nothing to compare them to.

I haven't read Pope's translation, but I'm a little leery of translations that put the text into a meter which requires rhyme. I feel like forcing the text into rhyme forces the translator to veer too far from the original meaning. Having said that, such translations are works of art within themselves.