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/lit/ - Literature

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12894205 No.12894205 [Reply] [Original]

Should I read the Iliad and Odyssey? Why/why not? Which translation do I go for?

>> No.12894208

no because they're boring fuck. just read the sparknotes and say you've read em

>> No.12894221

Yes, fagles.

t. just finished it

>> No.12894226

>>12894221
Why? Lattimores iliad seems more interesting

>> No.12894230

>>12894205
I'd personally say yes, but it really depends on your goals. They're both pretty incredible stories with significant insight into many social questions of both antiquity and today. With that being said, depending on the translation and your reading preferences some people find them to be a bit of a drag. If you're interested in other Greek works or philosophy I'd say they are definitely necessary, but if you're less interested in reading as an autodidactic pursuit and more as a leisure activity, you could definitely get away with not reading them.

As far as translation is concerned I'd recommend fagles. I know many classicists don't like fagles translations but I found them to be enjoyable overall.

>> No.12894235

Yes because they're the most beautiful books you'll ever come across and will change your life.
Read Chapman.

>> No.12894248
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12894248

got your translation right here

>> No.12894249

>>12894235
Chapman for both? I heard Lattimore's is the best

>> No.12894258
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12894258

>>12894208
Audiobooks are the proper solution; would you rather see the word flower or a flower.

With respect to OP, symbols and books in general should be attempted not out of the urging of some other group of individuals, but a inner curiosity that will service your own progression towards the multitude of perspectives that have blanketed human history and can serve as guideposts forward moreso than any trending subject, no matter the value of that subject at the time in occurrence.

This follows from the nature of our very existence, which is perpetuated by far more information than could ever be consumed, and by the impossibility of finding a legitimate answer to whether one should or should not read a given piece of literature on the internet.

What then, are we left to do when we are incapable of fostering said creativity within ourselves, or perhaps incapable of determining the proper cultural media to consume? We move forward from what we know and have learned from prior experience, but we know that to be faulty, and so we rely on others to guide us in our pursuit for greater understanding. After all, how might we know what is best for us, being apes and all that?

It seems this line of reasoning must be altogether flawed, given the paradoxical nature of epistemology which I have outlined above. The best answer is to actually spend more time living your life as you would be happy to have lived it twenty to forty years from now, rather than fussing too much over what the community declares to be right or wrong.

>> No.12894274

>>12894258
Auidiobooks have never been my thing, why do you think so, beyond a flower analogy?

>> No.12894290

Fitzgerald is my preferred translation, it’s accurate and poetic.
Lattimore is also quite good, but it’s less poetic.
Don’t go fagles.
There’s also Pope and Chapman, but they’re kind of a meme. Definitely wouldn’t recommend for a first time read because the translators put they’re own poetic spin on them, so they have a very 17th and 18th century feel.

>> No.12894302

>>12894290
>There’s also Pope and Chapman, but they’re kind of a meme
they use heroic couplets ffs

>> No.12894315

>>12894302
Heroic couplets are silly now but were a legitimate form of epic expression.

>> No.12894322

>>12894221
>>12894205
I read the Odyssey in a classics class a couple years ago, and at the end, the professor went through the various translations. I remember liking Fagles the most, but I can also remember Fitzgerald and Lattimore were also mentioned.

Shout out: I attend the same institution as the translator of a brand new edition of the Odyssey, Peter Green. He is 94 years old and participated in the university's Homerathon, which featured the Iliad, last week. His wife was the chair of the department and has died from cancer. She wrote a book on the cult of Diana at Aricia, the first study since Frazer. I read it and would recommend it for anyone interested in the topic or anyone who has read the Orestes and Frazer's work.

>> No.12894328

>>12894290

I've heard Lattimore for Iliad, Fitzgerald for Odyssey. Would you support that?

>> No.12894339

>>12894322
One further thing. I would suggest listening to it on audiobook above anything else. The Homeric poems are meant to be sung aloud. Obviously, the modern reader is not going to be singing. Even so, audiobooks feel more immersive, especially with a work like the Iliad. If you are a strong reader, you might feel held back with the audiobook at certain parts. They list a fuckton of names at certain parts, and not all of those names are relevant. If you were reading it, you could just skim through right quick but not if you were listening.

>> No.12894373

>>12894328
You can’t go wrong with either of them. It’s up to personal preference so I would read an excerpt from both and decide which one you like best, and then go with that.

>> No.12894529

>>12894339
>I would suggest listening to it on audiobook above anything else
I suggest reading it aloud while slugging a good single malt.

>> No.12894541

>>12894205
>Should I read the Iliad and Odyssey?
Yes and yes
>Why?
The Iliad is based and redpilled. The Odyssey, while not as based as the Iliad, is still based. It is also redpilled.
>Which translation do I go for?
Type that in google and do what it says.