# Recommend a good translation of the Iliad to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594 "2004-05-17T13:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/1 "2004-05-17T13:53:04Z")
OK, I know that if I need to get something from Japan or China, I go straight to Thomas Cleary, but, should I be looking for Homer, all I have is memories of falling asleep in high school and college. I hear a lot about this Fagles character and I vaguely recall a high school translation of the _Odyessy_ that was almost a novelization of the poem, but don’t recall liking either very much. Considering that I can’t even find two summaries that sound like the same story, I’m losing hope that there’s a “definitive” version, or at least one that doesn’t completely suck. I’m looking for something that keeps some of the fun in terms of the structure wihout getting bogged down in staying as true to the Greek as possible (leading to stretched rhymes, etc.) and preferably has some footnotes or essays that will fill me in on the background and who’s who sorts of things. Any suggestions? I’d prefer if I could download it online, are the Gutenberg etexts any good? ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/2 "2004-05-17T14:03:33Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > I’d prefer if I could If anyone knows any good books on English grammar, I’d appreciate that as well. :wally ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/3 "2004-05-17T14:08:41Z")
Try [Richard Lattimore’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0859896846/qid=1084802831/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-8336243-0396162?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) for the former, and [Fowler’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0192813897/qid=1084802876/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-8336243-0396162?v=glance&s=books) for the Latter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/4 "2004-05-17T14:48:29Z")
My _alma mater_ was heavily into the classics, and the faculty insisted on the Lattimore translation. Highly readable. One thing that might catch you off guard is its use of less-Anglicized versions of certain characters’ names, such as Achilleus instead of Achilles, and Aias instead of Ajax. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/5 "2004-05-17T15:11:22Z")
I _hated_ Richmond Lattimore’s translation – it reminds me too much of the translations I did back in high school. Too much literality and not enough poetry. (It’s Rich_mond_, btw, not _Richard_. I made the same mistake for a long time before I noticed it.) My favorite is Robert Fitzgerald’s. I read his translation of **The Odyssey** in high school and in college, and as soon as his Iliad came out in paperback I grabbed and read it, too. I’ve been through it several times now. I like Robert Fagles’ translation, too – it’s the current Penguin verse translation. I have his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey on audiotape, and have listened to them several times over. If you want a truly off-the-wall translation, pick up Christopher Logue’s. I don’t think he’s done the whole epic, but you can find individual books, if you look. His translation of Book 16 (“the Patrocleia”) is a HOOT! I just picked up Chapman’s translation, for historical interest. But I haven’t read it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/6 "2004-05-17T15:47:02Z")
> [@skutir](#): > > Try [Richard Lattimore’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0859896846/qid=1084802831/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-8336243-0396162?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) for the former, and [Fowler’s](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0192813897/qid=1084802876/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-8336243-0396162?v=glance&s=books) for the Latter. 🙂 Well done; before clicking, I thought Fowler was going to be an etext of _Der Iliad_. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/7 "2004-05-17T20:28:52Z")
Another vote for Fitzgerald–he tried to keep the real feel of the original, and didn’t convolute things to fit into a rhyming or scanning scheme that makes more sense in Greek than in English. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/8 "2004-05-17T20:41:49Z")
Fitzgerald has also done _The Aeneid_. I have the whole “trilogy” (now if I could find time to read them…). ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/9 "2004-05-17T22:20:26Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > If anyone knows any good books on English grammar, I’d appreciate that as well. :wally Not a book, but you might also enjoy [GrammarLady.com](http://GrammarLady.com) – the message board (Hit the Books) there is especially fun. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/10 "2004-05-17T22:51:01Z")
KU swears by Lombardo. It could be that he’s the head of the classics department. I’ve not read it, but apparently it’s a very readable translation. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/11 "2004-05-18T00:13:14Z")
I’m reading Lattimore right now. I started reading Lombardo, but was told that it isn’t very good. (Best cover, though.) Having switched, and read about 300 lines in common, I have to say that I like Lattimore better. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/12 "2004-05-18T05:33:06Z")
Whatever you do, _don’t_ try the translation included in Encyclopædia Brittanica’s Great Books collection (does anyone remember which one that was?). After forcing myself through two pages, I decided that the original Greek would be less archaic. I did eventually find a better translation… I think it may have been the Lattimore mentioned by **Kizarvexius** , as it definitely had “Aias” instead of “Ajax” (plural “Aiantes”, since of course, there were two guys by that name). ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/13 "2004-05-18T05:41:49Z")
I also really like Robert Fagles’ translation - and if nothing else, the binding is cool. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/14 "2004-05-18T11:26:28Z")
> [@](#): > > I think it may have been the Lattimore mentioned by Kizarvexius, as it definitely had “Aias” instead of “Ajax” (plural “Aiantes”, since of course, there were two guys by that name). I think it was Fitzgerald’s – I don’t thin Lattimore did that, but Fitzgerald uses more direct transliterations of the Greek in his text – “Aias” instead of “Ajax”, “Kirke” instead of “Circe”, etc. At least I didn’t immediately visualize a can of cleanser fighting in the Trojan War that way. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-translation-of-the-iliad-to-me/245594/15 "2004-05-18T14:05:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > At least I didn’t immediately visualize a can of cleanser fighting in the Trojan War that way. I was glad that Wolfgang Petersen managed to restrain himself from having a scene of the Greek heroes graffiting the beaches of Ilium with “Ajax was here.” After much thought and deciding that I needed something to read on the train, I printed [Ian Johnston’s](http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/iliad_title.htm) public domain translation (based entirely off the first verse, which I compared to the other online versions). Will let you know how it goes, but if it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, I’m going to switch to Lattimore. The kicker was that I forgot it at the office and didn’t have anything to read on the way home…