# Is Lattimore's translation of the Illiad the best?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lattimores-translation-of-the-illiad-the-best/307062>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 6, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lattimores-translation-of-the-illiad-the-best/307062 "2005-06-06T00:29:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lattimores-translation-of-the-illiad-the-best/307062/1 "2005-06-06T00:29:21Z")

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I’ve read Richard Lattimore’s translation of the \*Illiad \* several times. Is this the best translation available? Oddly enough, I’ve never read his _Odyssey_. Is it also worth a read?

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**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-lattimores-translation-of-the-illiad-the-best/307062/2 "2005-06-06T02:32:18Z")

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I’ve only read Lattimore’s _Illiad_ too, but I read Fitzgerald’s _Odyssey_, and it doesn’t seem to compare to Lattimore’s translating. It just seems kinda off–a lot of “thee” and “thy” and a generally anachronistic feel to the writing.

But that’s just my opinion. There are plenty of people who consider Fitzgerald to be the end-all-be-all of the _Illiad_ and _Odyssey_. I prefer Lattimore.