Best Iliad Translation

**ROFL Copter** · May 14, 2009, 06:16 PM

I have been reading (but havnt finished, Im only 14) a couple of copies of the Iliad, but havnt decided which is the best. Any thoughts here?

**Spartan198** · May 15, 2009, 09:19 AM

Hmm...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Claudius the God** · May 15, 2009, 11:33 AM

I loved Martin Hammond's translation, published by Penguin.

It's in prose, keeps the names nice and Greek, and most importantly, conveys a great sense of grandeur while also being extremely readable (i wasn't bored once!) I picked it up expecting to read a chapter or two and dashed through it, loving every minute!

**ROFL Copter** · May 15, 2009, 01:19 PM

No prose.

Besides the best prose (more like the best crap) is Rieu.

And Troy is an awesome movie.

**Phalanx300** · May 15, 2009, 03:14 PM

It is, so are all movies with big battles in it. I seem to like them all!

**Jarlaxe** · May 16, 2009, 12:58 AM

yeah...Troy the movie...a massacre of Iliad,Homers bones should tremple...
i think that if you are familiar with ancient greek is the best way to read Iliad,all the translations loose something,even the new-greek ones

**Beorn** · May 16, 2009, 07:57 AM

In Greek, I find the K.Kakridis translation the best...

**Cal20** · May 16, 2009, 11:40 AM

No wonder you have struggled to read any of the versions, its a bit tedious to read imo.

**Starlightman** · May 16, 2009, 05:26 PM

http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/book.jsp?id=52

**Wolfshead** · May 18, 2009, 09:44 AM

The movie "Troy" is an inaccurate portrayal of the Iliad (the movie is great though) and when I saw it I thought it couldn't get much inaccurately. Until 300 came out..

It's pretty amazing how they mixed a little bit of Greek history with Warcraft and Lord of the Rings in 300, though!

**ROFL Copter** · May 18, 2009, 12:53 PM

Troy isnt about the history though. The Iliad couldnt be made into a movie. It would be a disaster. Troy is just meant to be a selling movie, and a damn good one too.

**oudysseos** · May 25, 2009, 03:57 AM

The best English translation currently available is Robert Fagles, my opinion being based on having read the Iliad in Greek, and all of Lattimore and Fitzgerald as translations, as well as the best bits in Pope. Fagles is the most true to the original in language and structure and is eminently readable.

Reading the Iliad in prose is a waste of time, as far as I'm concerned: you can get a good summary of the plot in Cliff notes or on wikipedia, which is about all a prose translation can offer. Would you read a prose version of Shakespeare's sonnets?

A side note: I'm pushing 40 and still find the Iliad both rewarding and challenging. Don't expect at 14 to be able to read it through and not have to return to it again and again. It's also the kind of book that you can easily pick up and read chapters out of sequence, just for the pleasure of the language (at least in a good translation). And the best way to 'read' the Iliad is, of course, to listen to it being read out loud: there's an excellent audiobook of Fagles out.

**ROFL Copter** · May 25, 2009, 06:20 PM

I have Fagles but I dont like how obnoxiously thick the book is. There is no level of convenience in it. Other than that it is pretty good. Why is it better than Lattimore and the like? What do you think of Graves' version?

**oudysseos** · May 26, 2009, 02:36 AM

? The Fagles translation covers the same amount of material as all the others, so it's not any longer in that respect. The introduction by Bernard Knox is substantial, but is also extremely excellent: you should read it carefully. Perhaps you have what is called a 'prestige format' softcover, which is larger and with larger print. Personally I find those easier to read. Looks more impressive too.

Graves- wasn't his a prose version called the Siege of Troy or something like that? I think that I had a copy years and years ago but I don't remember anything useful to tell you. Just read Fagles.

There are three ancillary books which I highly recommend.
Helen of Troy, by Bettany Hughes, is a treasure trove of info about the bronze age and the real world setting for the Iliad.
The World of Odysseus, by M.I. Finley, covers similar ground, but also considers the history of Homer and the transmission of the texts, and is generally more scholarly. Also very short.
Ulysses Found, by Ernle Bradford, is a travel around the Mediterranean locations of the Iliad and Odyssey, from the practical perspective of a sailor. A ripping yarn as well, again a short book.

EDIT: Fagles, Lattimore and Fitzgerald are all very good, but also different in their approaches. I wouldn't say that one is better than the other: it's a matter of your personal taste, really. Fagles is newer, more contemporary and yet keeps closer to the original in language and structure.

Here's an example: most people think that they know that the Iliad begins, "Sing, O Muse, of the wrath of Achilles..." or something like that when actually in Greek that's not it at all. The first line of Fagles is almost an exact word-for-word metaphrase of Homer: "Rage- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles". These differences are important if you want to get a better feel for what Homer really wrote: he begins this immensely long poem with the word 'Rage', and not until the end of the first line do we hear the name Achilles.

**ROFL Copter** · May 26, 2009, 06:21 PM

I think Graves added words and changed it a bit, the opening is very different. But I only glanced at it.

I dont have Fitzgerald's version, how is it different? I would like to read one that reads well for the first time through.

**thebigsalad** · June 03, 2009, 05:12 AM

I agree with oudysseos. I have Fagles myself and I really don't think you'll have any trouble with it.
I believe our University recommends the penguin classics version to students though. I can't comment on that one, as I haven't read it.
I can tell you that it 'appears' smaller.