Homer

[soulsinging]

The grandaddy of all adventure authors... does anyone have any recommendations on the best translations? I have read both the Iliad and the Odyssey in the past, but realized when I was in the shop the other day that I don't own a copy of either! I am a big fan of the look of the Penguin classics series and they have two different translations... one by Fagles (I think?) and another by someone else. The latter looks more like a prose translation, which is what I think I first read many years ago and doesn't seem right.

Any thoughts?

[sffhound]

Well, I think it's good that prose translations are made so that the stories the epic poems tell can be read by those (like me xD) who think the original verse is a bit draining. But it should be made very clear then that the translation is not true to the original form of the work.

[J-Sun]

Prose translations generally have the merit of more literal exactness but verse translations can at least make a stab at a more poetic fidelity. At least one's reading a poem and not a rather weird novel-like-thing. But having one of each isn't a bad idea for the ones you care about most.

As far as translations, I seem to have stuck on Fitzgerald's for The Odyssey - I'm less concerned with that one and it seems okay. For The Iliad, which is my favorite, I seem to have stuck on one by someone called Ennis Rees. It may well suck for all I know - I've never heard it discussed anywhere unlike some of the more famous translations - but it seems to be sufficiently poetic while capturing what I imagine must have been the original zip and gusto. A lot of translations seem to get sort of ponderous and quiet in some attempt to show "respect" for a "great work". The Rees just rocks.

[gully_foyle]

I love both books, though I have only ever read the prose translations. E.V. Rieu's translation of The Odyssey is probably the standard Penguin Classic and I personally think it is a wonderful read. I've also got Martin Hammond's translation of The Iliad, which is also pretty good. For my money, The Odyssey is a much more engrossing tale than The Iliad.