What are you favorite translations of The Odyssey?

[Hazmat0]

I've heard Fitzgerald, Fagles, and Lattimore mentioned the most, but among the praise I haven't seen much difference between them. Please help

Also, should I read the Iliad first? I'm more interested in the Odyssey, but would I be losing out by reading them out of order?

Thank you

[LaMaga]

I prefer Fagles, because I can enjoy the actual story.

I read the Odyssey first because I knew I wouldn't be too keen on the heavy war theme in the Illiad, and I was right. I enjoyed the Odyssey so much better.

[Phocion]

I've heard Fitzgerald, Fagles, and Lattimore mentioned the most, but among the praise I haven't seen much difference between them. Please help

Also, should I read the Iliad first? I'm more interested in the Odyssey, but would I be losing out by reading them out of order?

Thank youA fair amount of the Odyssey won't really fit into place without having read the Iliad; there are many flashbacks and retellings which complete the stories of some of the characters of the Iliad, and if you aren't familiar with the characters i could see that being tedious.

[JBI]

I found the Lattimore to be god awful, but that may just be me.

[Hazmat0]

I found the Lattimore to be god awful, but that may just be me.

Which translation is your favorite, or have you read no other version?

[mortalterror]

JBI is right. Lattimore is an excellent scholar but a second class translator. I recommend the Fagles or Fitzgerald translations of the Odyssey. Here are some excerpts to help you make your choice.

Chapman(1616):
THE man, O Muse, inform, that many a way
Wound with his wisdom to his wished stay;
That wandered wondrous far, when he the town
Of sacred Troy had sack'd and shivered down;
The cities of a world of nations,
With all their manners, minds, and fashions,
He saw and knew; at sea felt many woes,
Much care sustained, to save from overthrows
Himself and friends in their retreat for home;
But so their fates he could not overcome,
Though much he thirsted it. O men unwise,
They perish'd by their own impieties,
That in their hunger's rapine would not shun
The oxen of the lofty-going Sun,
Who therefore from their eyes the day bereft
Of safe return.

Pope(1725):
The man for wisdom’s various arts renown’d,
Long exercised in woes, O Muse! resound;
Who, when his arms had wrought the destined fall
Of sacred Troy, and razed her heaven-built wall,
Wandering from clime to clime, observant stray’d,
Their manners noted, and their states survey’d,
On stormy seas unnumber’d toils he bore,
Safe with his friends to gain his natal shore:
Vain toils! their impious folly dared to prey
On herds devoted to the god of day;
The god vindictive doom’d them never more
(Ah, men unbless’d!) to touch that natal shore.

Cowper(1791):
Muse make the man thy theme, for shrewdness famed
And genius versatile, who far and wide
A Wand’rer, after Ilium overthrown,
Discover’d various cities, and the mind
And manners learn’d of men, in lands remote.
He num’rous woes on Ocean toss’d, endured,
Anxious to save himself, and to conduct
His followers to their home; yet all his care
Preserved them not; they perish’d self-destroy’d
By their own fault; infatuate! who devoured
The oxen of the all-o’erseeing Sun,
And, punish’d for that crime, return’d no more.

Palmer(1886):
SPEAK TO me, Muse, of the adventurous man who wandered long after he sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many the men whose towns he saw, whose ways he proved; and many a pang he bore in his own breast at sea while struggling for his life and his men’s safe return. Yet even so, by all his zeal, he did not save his men; for through their own perversity they perished—fools! who devoured the kine of the exalted Sun. Wherefore he took away the day of their return.

Morris(1887):
Tell me, O Muse, of the Shifty, the man who wandered afar,
After the Holy Burg, Troy-town, he had wasted with war;
He saw the towns of menfolk, and the mind of men did he learn;
As he warded his life in the world, and his fellow-farers’ return,
Many a grief of heart on the deep-sea flood he bore,
Nor yet might he save his fellows, for all that he longed for it sore.
They died of their own souls’ folly, for witless as they were
They ate up the beasts of the Sun, the Rider of the Air,
And he took away from them all their dear returning day;

Butler(1900):
Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home.

Rieu(1945):
Tell me, Muse, the story of that resourceful man who was driven to wander far and wide after he had sacked the holy citadel of Troy. He saw the cities of many people and he learnt their ways. He suffered great anguish on the high seas in his struggles to preserve his life and bring his comrades home. But he failed to save those comrades, in spite of all his efforts. It was their own transgression that brought them to their doom, for in their folly they devoured the oxen of Hyperion the Sun-god and he saw to it that they would never return.

Fitzgerald(1961):
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy.
He saw the townlands
and learned the minds of many distant men,
and weathered many bitter nights and days
in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only
to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.
But not by will nor valor could he save them,
for their own recklessness destroyed them all —
children and fools, they killed and feasted on
the cattle of Lord Hêlios, the Sun,
and he who moves all day through the heaven
took from their eyes the dawn of their return. . . .

Lattimore(1965):
Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven
far journeys, after he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel.
Many were they whose cities he saw, whose minds he learned of,
many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the wide sea,
struggling for his own life and the homecoming of his companions.
Even so he could not save his companions, hard though
he strove to; they were destroyed by their own wild recklessness,
fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios, the Sun God,
and he took away the day of their homecoming. . . .

Fagles(1996):
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove –
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all,
the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return. . . .

[prendrelemick]

^ Fantastic post.

I found Rieu the most satisfying but I haven't read Fagles - which seems to be the most popular.

Which do you prefer;

Wound with his wisdom
Various arts renown'd
For shrewdness famed
The adventurous man
The shifty
Ingenious hero
That resourceful man
Skilled in all ways
Man of many ways
or
Man of twists and turns


Then there's Butcher and Lang and TE Lawrence.

[Charles Darnay]

I'll throw my hat in for Fagles: unless you are reading it specifically to get a feel for how it would have been recited in Greek, or for translation purposes - Fagles has what you need in a good way. I have read almost all the versions on Mortal's above list (I have not read Butler) - plus Rouse, who is awful when it comes to Homer (but excellent with Lucretius, go figure).

Also, if OP is still around, I second reading Iliad first. I myself prefer the Odyssey (although it is hard to be beat book 20 and 21 of Iliad) - but leaving out the back story means you will miss a lot in the Odyssey, unless you are familiar with Homeric cycles.

[Charles Darnay]

Also, I love how you can get a history of ideology just by reading these brief excerpts.

Chapman: deep reverence for Classical subject matter.

Pope: well, he just turns the poem into one of his own.

Cowper: The Enlightened poem

Palmer and Morris: the height of imperialism in Britain and the Pre-Raphaelite spirit for adventure

Butler: a time of ingenuity and progress.

Rieu: They won the war!

Fitzgerald starts the tradition of approaching it scientifically and scholarly, trying to balance the aesthetic with the original text.

Fagels tries to make it accessible for the masses - as the 90s was wont to do.

[ralfyman]

Try these links:

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/homertranslations.htm

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/11/englishing-the-iliad.html

[Hazmat0]

I have chosen to read the Fitzgerald translations, as well as read the Iliad first. Thank you everyone for your helpful responses!!

[Hazmat0]

Also, I love how you can get a history of ideology just by reading these brief excerpts.

Chapman: deep reverence for Classical subject matter.

Pope: well, he just turns the poem into one of his own.

Cowper: The Enlightened poem

Palmer and Morris: the height of imperialism in Britain and the Pre-Raphaelite spirit for adventure

Butler: a time of ingenuity and progress.

Rieu: They won the war!

Fitzgerald starts the tradition of approaching it scientifically and scholarly, trying to balance the aesthetic with the original text.

Fagels tries to make it accessible for the masses - as the 90s was wont to do.

Very interesting observation. I will read the Iliad first on account of your recommendation. Probably the Fitzgerald version. I got the Fagle's Odyessy as a gift years ago but never read it. From the above post I prefer Fitzgerald's translation over Fagle's.

[Hazmat0]

Try these links:

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/homertranslations.htm

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/11/englishing-the-iliad.html

Great links, thank you. Especially the first one, Wow!

[Anton Hermes]

I just finished the Fagles translation this fall. It was a very energetic, exciting read.

[Charles Darnay]

Very interesting observation. I will read the Iliad first on account of your recommendation. Probably the Fitzgerald version. I got the Fagle's Odyessy as a gift years ago but never read it. From the above post I prefer Fitzgerald's translation over Fagle's.

The Fitzgerald and Fagels are very similar. I used the Fitzgerald while working on translating parts of Odyssey in my undergrad.