I've never read the Iliad - which should I read: novelized version or not?

[Del]

Also which translations are the best?

[Sancho]

Del, I'm all for a verse translation. It seems to me that this will bring you closer to the original, which was of course an oral tradition. I hope I have this correct, but I believe that these poems were sung by a bard typically during a town's harvest festival. The longer poems would take days to deliver. Most translations have the Iliad broken into 24 books. The division of the poem into books is artificial. When someone finally got around to writing down the poem, I think it took 24 scrolls to get it in writing.

I’ve got a Robert Fagles’ translation in a (Penguin) box set with The Odyssey; I think it is well done.

[ravana]

I can't remember Iliada without laughing. I read its verse translation. But to read it regularly within a week got me in trouble. The battles schenes were so vivid that my mind were full of them and I couldn't sleep whole week. As I closed my eyes my mind was starting to declaim all poem by heart, though I didn't know it by heart.

But it's great. You must read its verse version. Akhilles is my favorite hero.

[Del]

Has anyone read Pope's translation?

[Sycron]

Well, personally I think that the Chapman translation is the best. Simply because the man spent ten years of his life translating the work of Homer. It just seems as though the Chapman translation is so full of meaning and essence, that it captures Homer's original vision very truthfully.

[simon]

Verse translation is the only way to go, since, as sancho, pointed out it brings you closer to the oral tradition, but as for a specific translation my copy is in storage in another country and I can't recall who it was, though I would recomend it if i could.

[Sancho]

One thing you may consider when selecting a Homer translation is how many notes you are willing to read. Some editions drown you in notes while others leave you hanging. It just depends on your comfort level.

I agree with you Ravana, the battle scenes are vivid. Right down to describing which internal organs fall out and wiggle around in the dirt. I’ve got to disagree with you on your hero though. I was pulling for Hector. He was a real guy (not part god). Also he was kicking arse and taking names all the while Achilles sat around pouting in his tent.

[Del]

My library doesn't have the Fagles' or Fitzgerald's translation, so should I wait to read the Iliad until I can find one of these modern translations or would Butler or Pope suffice? Pope's seems very hard to read and I only glanced at Butler's.

[mike401]

Lattimore's translation is the best I've read, hands down. You can't go wrong with it.