The Iliad (Everyman's Library (Cloth))

Rating:
Summary: Great, even for the average reader
Review: Firstly, I have not read this particular translation, so I'm just giving my general opinion on the book. Secondly, I don't know much about Greek Mythology or History, and this is the first piece of Greek Literature I read. So I'll say, for those in the same position, don't hesitate to read it. The language is difficult at first, but you get used to it after a few pages. And since it was written as a poem, phrases and expressions are repeated throughout, which makes it easier.

It is an epic story about the final tenth year of the Trojan War in which the legendary warrior Achillies is denied the maiden Briseis by king Agammemnon. He refuses to join in battle and remains in his tent nursing his anger. Eventually he goes to face the Trojan warrior Hector on the battlefield when his pain over the tragic loss of his comrades overcomes his anger. It is very different to anything I've read before, the action is constant, and there are no short exchanges of dialogue. The descriptions are on such a grand-scale. Emotions, whether anger, sadness or pain (there's plenty of that!) are always extreme. You get a sort of high reading about such legendary characters in a work 3000 years old, especially because of the archaic quality of the language. Watching Zeus and Hera argue is hilarious! It can be very moving in some parts. Read it with a reference book or a 'Companion to The Iliad' or something, it would be very difficult to understand otherwise. My edition is in prose, and from what I've read of other reviews, I suppose I missed out for not reading it in verse. Reading this book also helps to understand allusions made to Greek Literature in other classics. So, that's my un-expert opinion on the book. If I was more familiar with Greek Literature or History, I would perhaps appreciate it more. But for anyone, it remains an enjoyable and enlightening read.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent translation of a timeless classic
Review: I began the Iliad because I thought it was a book every cultured person should have read. I was expecting it to be boring, dull and very monotonous reading. But after the first few pages I was wrapped up in the storyline which was gripping and not at all slow moving. Aside from the all too graphic battles, there are certain scenes which were too dramatic to be forgotten. The main problem for the casual reader will be keeping track of the hundreds of characters, some of whom are mentioned only just before their death. At several points the story seems unreal, such as long speeches in the midst of battle, but this can be overlooked. Robert Fitzgerald`s translation is very easy to read, although I suggest reading the introduction, as this will help explain Homer`s unique style of writing.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid this (Fitzgerald) Translation
Review: I have recently reviewed all the available Iliad translations for a twelve week book discussion on the Iliad that I am moderating. I was extremely disappointed in the Fitzgerald translation, particularly because I consider his Odyssey excellent.

Fitzgerald has not produced a translation so much as a retelling. In favor, apparently, of making the story more "accessible," whatever that means, he has used language that even an average eighth grader would find, in many places, simplistic and pedestrian.

If you just want a quick, easy read through the basic Iliad story, a step or two up from a Classics Comics, this book will do (though you would save time just reading the Cliff Notes). But if you want more than just the story, if you also want to enjoy the richness of Homer, the depth of insights, the complex language that enriches the Greek text, avoid this translation.

Lattimore, though it is some fifty years old and modern research brings into question a few of his word choices, is still the richest, the closest to Homeric quality translation of the Iliad available. It is definitely my first recommendation. It does, admittedly, require close attention to read in parts, but it well repays the effort, and once you adapt to his style, which doesn't take long, it is an engrossing and highly rewarding translation to read.

If you want a somewhat easier to digest translation than Lattimore, the more recent Fagels translation is your best choice. He simplifies the languge without greatly sacrificing the richness and complexity of the original. It is not as good as Lattimore, but it is still quite acceptable.

There are other translations out there -- Pope, Rieu, Butler, among others -- but they are more niche translations. If you are into doggerel, Pope will give you more than you could wish for. Rieu and Butler are workmanlike translations, but both are prose translations. They are useful for study; because they don't have to worry about choosing words to fit a poetic meter they can be more literally accurate than any poetic translation, but reading a prose translation of Homer is sort of like reading the text of the Messiah without any of the music; yes, you understand the content, but it's hardly an equivalent experience.

So my recommendations for Homer translations are:

Iliad: First by a long shot, Lattimore; second, Fagels, third, no third place, last place, any other

Odyssey: First place shared, Lattimore and Fitzgerald, second Fagels.

Rating:
Summary: Fitzgerald Reads Aloud Best
Review: I was introduced to the Fitzgerald translation in 1997. I had attempted to read it in the Pope translation but found it quite difficult to read several years before that. My mind desired to read it doggrel, sing-songing my way through the rhymed couplets. I am certain that Pope's version agrees with many, but Fitzgerald's forceful cadence pounds upon the mind with great strength.

I once began reading it aloud, my third time through, and found it so compelling I took to standing up, reading line after line for almost an hour. I believe that if you find a copy of the Fitzgerald translation you should find a place where you can read it softly to yourself and see if you agree.

The Fitzgerald version called to mind a few salient points about The Iliad:

1. It was a time half-remembered, and those heroes of The Iliad half-remembered the generation who had preceded them. This has the effect of making one feel the weight of generations lost.

2. The violence is brutal and final in almost all cases. The terror and shock of battle is thrust home in line after line of the epic.

A very worthy translation, worthy of examination.

Rating:
Summary: Translation's the Key
Review: I won't try to give yet another summary of the Iliad's plot nor give my insignificant opinion on the importance of Homer to Western Culture. More important is to discuss this translation and the translation of Homer in general.

When it comes to classic works of poetry in translation, such as those of Homer, Vergil, Dante and others, the translation makes all the difference. The type of translation, whether in rhyming verse, blank verse, prose etc., whether it is a strict line by line or more liberal translation, whether the wording and idioms are old fashioned or modern, can play such a great role that one translation may be completely different than another. This fact is probably often overlooked and attributes to the neglect of these classics, since a bad or difficult translation makes the poem seem tedious or dull.

Since Chapman's first translation of Homer into English in 1611 there have been dozens of others. Chapman's translation remains a classic, though its heavy and elaborate rhyming Elizabethan style and old wording make it quite laborious to read today. The next great translation was that of the renowned Enlightenment poet Alexander Pope; his Iliad was published progressively between 1715 and 1720. Pope's translation is in rhyming verse with his heroic couplet and is eminently poetic. It is considered the greatest translation of Homer into English (Dr. Johnson called it "the noblest version of poetry which the world has ever seen") but it is not as plain and straightforward as Homer apparently is in the original. It is mostly for this reason that Pope's translation has been critized as being more the work of the poet Pope than the poet Homer.

Of the more recent verse translations a few are worth recommendation. The latest translation is usually better than its predecessors, though each one is different. That of Richmond Lattimore takes a strict approach. His verse lines are long and the syntax unfortunately seems somewhat unnatural because he is attempting to imitate the stress patterns and flow of the original Greek hexameter. His translation tries to stay as close to the original Greek as possible and retain the form of epic language. The next translation is the one here, that of Robert Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's translation is more modern, uses a shorter verse line and a natural English syntax. His translation is much easier to read and still retains the nobility of an epic poem. Finally, there is the translation of Robert Fagles. His translation is in blank verse, modern, rapid, simple and flowing. The noble simplicity of Greek style that the art historian Winkelmann so praised should also be found in a good translation of Homer. Like Fitzgerald, Fagles strives towards this and most approaches the ideal set out by the English poet and scholar Matthew Arnold for a translation of Homer: "Homer is rapid in his movement, Homer is plain in his words and style, Homer is simple in his ideas, Homer is noble in his manner." Fagles also uses the accepted Latin form of most Greek names: rather than "Akhilleus" he uses Achilles, rather than "Kyklops" he uses Cyclops. Lattimore and Fitzgerald sometimes annoyingly use the Greek versions, for no valid reason. They should have followed Arnold's advice on this point, who called such unnatural effect "pedantry" and claimed that the insistance on using the Greek variant for well-known names makes us "rub our eyes and call out 'How exceedingly odd!'." Finally, the narrative prose translations are in my opinion the remotest from epic poetry and should be avoided, especially since there are good verse translations available.

Rating:
Summary: The Iliad good and boring
Review: The Iliad is a great book about mythology in ancient times. I thought that the book was well written, but it had a lot of extraneous information throughout. It takes a long time to read for it seems as if the story flows slowly. Since I found it was taking a long time to read I was getting bored with it. It's not like a book where you pick it up and can't put it down. It has a lot of good vocabulary in it and is good to read for an English class. Overall it was a good story but it was long a drawn out too much.

Rating:
Summary: Anger Be Now Your Song Immortal One...
Review: The Iliad, as with other Greek poetry, was poetry intended to be recited orally as opposed to being read. Fitzgerald's backgroung in poetry brings out the lyrical passion of the Iliad so prized by the Greeks as no other translation has done. Other translations, although faithful, are hampered by archaic language and idioms that make little sense today. I strongly recommend this translation more than any other.

Rating:
Summary: Anger Be Now Your Song Immortal One...
Review: The Illiad is a good book about the battle of Troy. The book describes the battles quite well, maybe too well for some peoples likeing. In my opinion I thought it was a good book, but was hard to read and understand who was talking to who. All in all I think that if you like Greek Myth then this my be a book that you may want to read.

Rating:
Summary: Er...
Review: The Odessey was spectacular, but this book is so damn boring! I couldn't sit through reading it!!! I'm sure that it IS a great book, but it isn't my type of language.