The Odyssey

Rating:
Summary: A superb translation!
Review: Having recently read Guy Davenport's essay "Another Odyssey," which reviews the available English translations and finds them all wanting, I asked a friend, a Greek scholar, what to do. He immediately suggested this Rodney Merrill translation -- with words to the effect that "the Odyssey has FINALLY been translated into English WELL." Of course, nothing will ever beat the original, but this comes close.

I found that, in this translation, for the very first time, "The Odyssey" grabbed me both as a story AND as a poem, as a literary composition.

If you haven't discovered this marvelous book yet, you are in for a treat!

Highest possible recommendation!

Rating:
Summary: A superb translation!
Review: Having recently read Guy Davenport's essay "Another Odyssey," which reviews the available English translations and finds them all wanting, I asked a friend, a Greek scholar, what to do. He immediately suggested this Rodney Merrill translation -- with words to the effect that "the Odyssey has FINALLY been translated into English WELL." Of course, nothing will ever beat the original, but this comes close.

I found that, in this translation, for the very first time, "The Odyssey" grabbed me both as a story AND as a poem, as a literary composition.

If you haven't discovered this marvelous book yet, you are in for a treat!

Highest possible recommendation!

Rating:
Summary: Translation at its best
Review: Rodney Merrill's rendering of the Odyssey represents translation at its best ; it serves Homer beautifully in that it is written to be read aloud, and to arouse the emotional solidarity between the performer and its audience that will be understood at once by people who go to listen to music played in public today. You will enjoy the rich materiality of the text (the rythm of the drumming consonants and the melody of the short and long vowels) in its accurate relationship to the characters of the heroes and to the development of story. This new translation will contribute to the enduring popularity of the Odyssey.

Rating:
Summary: like Lattimore, yet more readable
Review: This new Homer's Odyssey translation by Rodney Merrill strives to be very literal to the Greek and to also match the line and meter of the Greek, to the extent that can be done in English. That said, the translation reads very well on the page, and in skimming through any particular book of the great epic poem one can see that Merrill has classic aesthetic taste regarding some of his choice of epithets and turns of phrases (as well as his overall approach). 'Great-hearted Odysseus', for instance, is a far better translation than 'Kind Odysseus' or 'Valiant Odysseus' or any of the numerous other choices one can find in all the many 20th century English translations. I point out that one little epithet just to give a sense of Merrill's approach. 'Great-hearted' suggests a level of being higher than the average human being, and that is what Odysseus possesses. Sticking to the literal meaning of the Greek like that (and I assume this is what Merrill has done in that epithet since he announces that this is his overall intention in translating the poem) is what is needed in a translation of the Odyssey (or Iliad). Just in the way that you can get a good feel for a translation this one has that good feel about it. It looks similar to Lattimore on the page, yet it reads much better. Maybe not poetically (go to Chapman or Pope for that), but for what Merrill seems to be attempting it comes across as successful.

Rating:
Summary: like Lattimore, yet more readable
Review: This new Homer's Odyssey translation by Rodney Merrill strives to be very literal to the Greek and to also match the line and meter of the Greek, to the extent that can be done in English. That said, the translation reads very well on the page, and in skimming through any particular book of the great epic poem one can see that Merrill has classic aesthetic taste regarding some of his choice of epithets and turns of phrases (as well as his overall approach). 'Great-hearted Odysseus', for instance, is a far better translation than 'Kind Odysseus' or 'Valiant Odysseus' or any of the numerous other choices one can find in all the many 20th century English translations. I point out that one little epithet just to give a sense of Merrill's approach. 'Great-hearted' suggests a level of being higher than the average human being, and that is what Odysseus possesses. Sticking to the literal meaning of the Greek like that (and I assume this is what Merrill has done in that epithet since he announces that this is his overall intention in translating the poem) is what is needed in a translation of the Odyssey (or Iliad). Just in the way that you can get a good feel for a translation this one has that good feel about it. It looks similar to Lattimore on the page, yet it reads much better. Maybe not poetically (go to Chapman or Pope for that), but for what Merrill seems to be attempting it comes across as successful.