Well, Fagles’s personal flaws notwithstanding, I like his translation better than that of Lattimore. For my money, though, the Odyssey is the more interesting book, if only because I enjoy reading about sirens, cyclops, sailors turned into swine, and the father/son reunion with Telemachus and Odysseus more than a long and drawn out war story, great as it is.
Odyssey is definitely better, in my opinion.
Frankly, more happens in the Odyssey. Like others above I began reading the Illiad in earnest because it starts out very exciting but became bored with it when I realized it was just one big fight scene. And a few speeches thrown in for good measure. Little or none of the “famous” stuff happens in the Illiad, which makes me wonder how they became famous in the first place.
Of course the Odyssey, like the Illiad, starts off after much of the “famous” stuff has happened as well.
So who did the translation in the Britannica Great Books collection? I remember that I tried to read it, but the language was so archaic, I figured I’d have an easier time with the original Greek. No, I don’t know Greek.
Are you by any chance familiar with Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida? 
I like the Fagles translation – of course, I don’t read ancient Greek and I’ve never met him so I don’t know (or care) if he’s an asshole. Ah, well.
BTW, where can I find the audio version with Derek Jacobi? (I would enjoy listening to Derek Jacobi reading the phone book. :D)
I’ll have to look for The Patrocleia as well – sounds intriguing. Thanks for the heads-up.
(I read the Fitzgerald Aeneid, but it was at the same time as I was reading the Latin. It helped a lot.)
Drastic, ROTFL. 
Here’s the Penguin Audio version, on Amazon:
You can also find it at large bookstores the B&N chain, Borders Books, etc. have them on the shelves. Sometimes.)
Jacobi doesn’t read the Penguin Audio of The Odyssey, but he does read another version of it.
Amazon.com doesn’t even list Logue’s Patrocleia, but they do list some of his other translations. I’m surprised he hsn’t completed either the Iliad r th Odyssey:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-1567122-6333629
Love the Illiad, I hope you enjoy it too. My approach to the Illiad has always been similar to the Whole Language approach to teaching kids to read – sort of a Whole Illiad method. Personally, I can’t read it straight through. I enjoy it much more when I read a section, and then start following what ever catches my interest, doing reading or online research on the people mentioned, or browsing over maps of Asia Minor, or looking at depictions of the events of the Illiad in painting and sculpture from various periods, or archeological exhibits of Greek weapons and shields. You could really spend the rest of your life doing that, not a bad hobby IMHO.
Don’t forget to follow up with some of the Greek tragic plays that involve various characters from the Illiad and what happens to them after.
I remember NBC doing the Odyssey as a mini-series and I wanted to read the book before seeing the series. I went to my sister, who had it from when she went to college. She suggested I read The Iliad first and gave me both books, as well as the Aenid.
I loved it. It was much better than Cats. I’m going to read it again and again.
Seriously, I liked The Iliad better than The Odyssey, but I agree it has much to do with the translation you get. After reading them, I went to buy my own copies, but couldn’t find a translation I liked.
Still looking…
I’m just signing in as another poster who hates Lattimore’s translations. Yes, they are close translations. However, sometimes a good translator should take liberties, otherwise the text will seem like… well… a translation.
I rather like my Penguin Books’ translation of The Odyssey, but unfortunately, I am now thousands of kilometers away from my Classics collection, and I’m drawing a blank on the translator’s name.
That said, if you ever have a chance to read Homer in the original Greek, do try it. I only read some parts of The Iliad in Greek, but I read The Odyssey entirely in Greek. The translations are good, but they don’t do the originals justice. Many words in Greek were polysemic. That fact was fully exploited in the original texts. Many paragraphs can be read four or five different times, and interpreted differently each time.
Basically, my thoughts after having read The Odyssey in English were “Hmmm… entertaining story, but I don’t really see the big deal.”
After reading it in Greek, my thoughts were “Oh my goodness. This is too freaking good.”
I am currently reading the Illiad, and I agree that Lattimore’s translation is a little rough. His translation of the Odyssey seemed to flow more smoothly.
The Odyssey is certainly a more colorful and entertaining work, but in my opinion it does not address some of the Great Problems of the Human Psyche with nearly the depth and sophistication of the Iliad. The nature of leadership, heroism, and the good life are methodically explored in speeches and ekphrases. Take this speech of Sarpedon, for example:
While setting the fundamental principles of leadership and heroism, Homer is darkly ironic, for their efforts bring them only humiliating death. The Iliad ultimately concludes, in my opinion, that there is no wisdom in suffering, yet we as humans must continue to plod onwards, and we must continue to hold on without flinching.
Even the victories of the Greeks come to nothing: Agamemnon gets offed as soon as he gets home, Achilles dies horribly on the field, Aias kills himself from rage and shame, Menelaus and Helen live in a haze of drugs and alcohol back in Sparta, and a fair city is annihilated. All for what?
All because the Greeks and the Trojans discharged their duties without flinching. Homer’s world is and grim, yet his characters live and die with rare majesty and dignity.
MR
I think it might be E. V. Rieu. At least, that’s who did the translations on my Penguin editions of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
(Of course, I’d prefer to read them in the original… but my Greek is rusted away to practically nothing these days…)
Yep, Emil Rieu did the Iliad and the Odyssey for Penguin. And in my opinion, they are excellent prose translations. Good call.
I started reading it last night. I think it’s going to take a while. It is very hard to follow at times, but seems pretty good so far.
I’ll look into the Penguin versions to see if they are easier to follow, though.
Yes, it was indeed a rather modern (stylistically) prose translation. Unfortunately, the name of the translator doesn’t ring a bell, but it’s probably right. My memory just happens to suck.