However, I do love Fagles' opening:
Rage -- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
Hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds.
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
LOL!
I think I'm in love! What a great way to begin a review!
And yeah, I haven't read the Iliad in too long.
We had to read the Iliad and the Odyssey when in high school. I have no idea which translation tho I suspect it was Lattimore as that sounds familiar.
I still remember the epithets tho that was over 50 years ago. “Man mountain Ajax”, “Horse tamer Hector”, also such expressions as “The Wine Dark Sea”.
I need to read them again tho I have not read a book except for Matt Brackin’s for several years.
I read all of the Odyssey and about eight books of the Iliad when I was in college. I still have my vocabulary notebooks and my copy of Cunliffe’s Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, since I always intended to go back and finish. I can still follow the syntax without much difficulty, but my vocabulary is a wreck.
The Odyssey is much easier than the Iliad in vocabulary and syntax, and many modern readers find it more appealing in various ways. Joyce wisely modeled his modern-day hero on Odysseus, not Achilles or Hector.
Thanks for posting, Kaslin. This looks like a fantastic translation of one of the great works. HOORAY Kate Havard. HOORAY Peter Green. BTTT!
I listened to Fagles’ Odyssey on tape, not long after it came out, and I was quite impressed with it. Of course, I have the Loeb version, and I can satisfy particular questions I might have by looking up the greek ... did you know “eating your heart out” is Homeric?
There is so much in there! It is truly part of the foundation of our culture, and our entire world view.
What a beautifully written review.
Upon reading Chapman’s Homer is my favorite sonnet and the reason I read Chapman’s Homer my college years.
That was the go-to "crib" when I was reading Classics, since Fagle is relatively recent.
Fagle is more entertaining, Lattimore is by far the more accurate. Ah, just read it in the original with a crib.
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
5οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ᾽ ἐτελείετο βουλή,
ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε
Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.
Great stuff!
Great topic. I may have to get a copy.
I’d like to take this opportunity to recommend as strongly as I can Seamus Handey’s translation of Beowulf.
My wife and I took turns reading it to each other while driving across country a few years ago. Definitely read it aloud if you can.
Sadly Seamus has passed, but his efforts are remembered favorably. I wish I’d had a chance to tell him how much we enjoyed the experience.
I like Latimore. Further, if you are REALLY interester, learn ancient Greek and read Homer in the original. No translation does the power of the Bard’s actual words justice. Further there are historical nuances in the story illustrated by the original language totally lost in translation. The poem was committed to words centuries after the events occurred and the tale is replete. With historical anachronisms from another earlier age, even in Homer’s day.
Www.sacred-texts.com/cla/homer/greek/index.htm
beyond my capacity
I like Dan Simmons’ version in Illium and Olympos. The the asteroid belt combat robots are cool.
They can translate Greek, but can’t get a seat on the SC. Go figure.
these were required reading for me in high school.