The Iliad

[Anonymous No.16607220]

What translation did you read The Iliad in? I read quite a bit of background beforehand, but Alexander Pope's version is not making too much sense.

[Anonymous No.16607228]

[Anonymous No.16607229]

Modern Greek, forget the translator

[Anonymous No.16607237]

I like Lattimore the best

>>16607228
cringe but accurate

[Anonymous No.16607301]

>>16607237
I planned to read the Odyssey with the Pope's translation. Should I try to stick with his translation of the Iliad too, or just use someone else's like Lattimore?

[Anonymous No.16607324]

Fitzgerald master race.

[Anonymous No.16607329]

>>16607229
>Modern Greek, forget the translator
What did he mean by this?

[Anonymous No.16607330]

>>16607301
Even though I prefer Lattimore, Fitzgerald and Fagles are good as well. Read these and pick the one you like best.
http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/homer.htm

I like Pope's translation - but I'd only recommend it to people who have already read one of the above.

[Anonymous No.16607395]

>>16607330
Thanks! I think I'm going to try out Fagles'

[Anonymous No.16607428]

>>16607395
Iliad - Fagles
Odyssey - Lattimore
The only way

[Anonymous No.16607495]

>>16607220
Lattimore and Merrill.

[Anonymous No.16607595]

>>16607220
i really liked lattimore desu

[Anonymous No.16607678]

>>16607229
Modern Greek is nothing like Homeric Greek. Might as well read it in English.

I read Rieu’s Homer. I’d recommend his Iliad but not his Odyssey.

[Anonymous No.16607763]

>>16607220
I'm a bit of a faggot for Penguin books, so I own their Fagles translations for all three epics. That being said, Fagles Iliad, Lattimore Odyssey, and it's really a toss-up for Aeneid. But really as long as you pick one of the popular translators you'll be set.

[Anonymous No.16607773]

>>16607763
Why would you read Fagels Illiad and not his Odyssey? Why not keep one or the other translations for both stories, for fidelity?

[Anonymous No.16607784]

>>16607773
Because Fagles does the illiad better and Lattimore does a better odyssey
Why use the same translator when you can literally have your cake and eat it too

[Anonymous No.16607869]

>>16607784
Yeah, I get that you think that but why? What specifically makes the Lattimore translation better, and why doesn't it apply to his translation of the Illiad, too?

[Anonymous No.16608088]

>>16607869
Fagle's Iliad is perfect but Lattinmore's Odyssey is better.
Fagle's is more poetic but Lattimore is more literal.
Fagle's Iliad is BETTER than his Odyssey
Lattimore's Odyssey is BETTER than his Iliad
Fagles Iliad == FI
Fagle's Odyssey == FO
Lattimore Iliad == LI
Lattimore Odyssey ==LO

LO is better than FO but FI is better than LI so you should read FI then LO and then FA (Fagle's Aeneid)

[Anonymous No.16608115]

I liked Lombardo's translation, but in all honesty I've only read his and Fagle's translation and both seemed just fine.

I only pick Lombardo because he never is mentioned.

[Anonymous No.16608135]

>>16608088
Are you fucking dense? I know you think one is better than the other but say WHY! You are not saying anything SAY SPECIFICALLY WHY.

[Anonymous No.16608147]

>>16608135
Because Fagle's is more poetic and subjectively more pleasing to the eye but Lattimore's is more accurate.
I think that Fagle's Iliad is better than Lattimore's but I prefer Lattimore's Odyssey.

[Anonymous No.16608150]

>>16608135
He's just being a cunt, mate. Only shallow nerds and academics read Lattimore. Chads read Fagles Why? Because Lattimore is dry and soulless while Fagles bring everything to life. It feels alive. Just compare their translations.

[Anonymous No.16608152]

>>16608135
I noticed this too. Is Anon an ESL practicing English comparatives?

[Anonymous No.16608162]

>>16608150
But you're not even reading HOMER at that point, you're not studying the Iliad or the Odyssey of HOMER you're studying the 'version' by Fagles.
You might as well watch the movie, or read the Wikipedia summary

[Anonymous No.16608172]

>>16608162
Nah, you might as well do nothing but you could read Fagles, the kino translation. Literalists are just snobs in a dire need for a fuck.

[Anonymous No.16608185]

>>16608172
>Only shallow nerds and academics read Lattimore.
enjoy your Emily Wilson translation - because that's pretty much the endgame of your philosophy.

[Anonymous No.16608202]

>>16608185
I'm talking about Fagles, mate. There's no "endgame to my philosphy", you silly armchair analyst.

[Anonymous No.16608259]

>>16608202
>i want to read the iliad but lattimore's translation is so academic and haaaaaaaard why can't it read like one of my percy jackson books?

[Anonymous No.16608273]

>>16608162
What makes the original Ancient Greek text better than translations?Genuinely curious what you can take away from the original that translations don’t offer

[Anonymous No.16608282]

>>16608273
It's the same content but the poetic effect of the language is entirely changed.
Can you read in two languages anon? It's always better to read a book in it's original tongue unless it's something like a math textbook or an index which looses little to no meaning in a translation.
Something like a poem is a waste of time to read in a translation in my opinion because the words loose their poetic power.

[Anonymous No.16608284]

>>16608273
I suspect its due to originalism. Author intent, historic word meanings, etc...

[Anonymous No.16608290]

>>16608259
Never said it was hard. Just dry and academic. Fagles hits the sweetspot. It's the ideal translation for a first-timer.

[Anonymous No.16608294]

>>16608290
What makes Fagle's better than Lombardo's? Genuinely curious.

[Anonymous No.16608297]

>>16608290
>It's the ideal translation
Maybe his Iliad but Fagle's Odyssey pales in comparison to Lattimore.
You can tell Fagles strays too far from the original meaning in dozens of places

[Anonymous No.16608304]

>>16608290
I don’t necessarily disagree with you m8. But the whole “too academic” argument is what leads to “modern reader friendly” translations like Wilson’s.

[Anonymous No.16608308]

>>16608304
Yea, I will stop saying that, as I dislike Wilson's intensely. Cheers.

[Anonymous No.16608313]

>>16608304
But literally what's wrong with her translation?
The decision to portray Odysseus as a battle hardened lesbian was powerful and stunning.
I keep a copy on the top shelf of my library and I often loan the copy to friends and business associates.

[Anonymous No.16608315]

>>16608282
Yeah obviously I’ll read a book in the original language if I know it but prose is down my list of what makes a book good.Im okay if themes, emotions, characterizations, tone, etc are accurately done by the translator.Wordplay, ofcourse, is lost and sometimes tone(most acclaimed translations get this across to an acceptable level).I just find the anti-translation meme to be overblown.Since prose isn’t the number one thing I look for, I don’t like poetry and reading a plot driven poem in translation doesn’t bother me

[Anonymous No.16608317]

Has anyone here tried Anthony Verity's version?

[Anonymous No.16608322]

>>16608315
>I don’t like poetry
mate...

[Anonymous No.16608328]

>>16608322
“Different strokes for different folk” as they say..

[Anonymous No.16608338]

>>16608328
Just like some people's minds are better suited to Harry Potter

[Anonymous No.16609080]

>reading
listen to it being chanted

[Anonymous No.16609274]

I read the E.V. Reiu prose (yeah I know) translation as a 12 yo kid and I genuinely loved it, read passages over and over again, and I wasn't the brightest and tended otherwise to YA shit and genrefic at the time so there's clearly something with real appeal

I've been debating whether to go with Pope or Chapman (the Wordsworth ed is Chapman I believe so I'd also get the epic meme cover) for the Iliad but I'll probably go with Fitzgerald for the Odyssey. I know Fagles and Lattimore are the more "accurate" translations but given that English and Ancient Greek verse express stress and meaning in totally incompatible ways is accuracy to form really what I want or accuracy to feeling?

Pope is the greatest English poet, who had a classical style evocative of the ancients, given Homer himself was continuing a tradition maybe in a sense going with a spirited continuation (Pope) rather than an impossible recreation (fagles/ lattimore) is the better choice. Keats did love Chapman though, and Pope as well based his version on Champman's

As for Fitzgerald over Pope or anyone else for the Odyssey, I half remember an effortpost from some anon years ago which explained why he understood that poem (but not the Iliad) in a way that no other translator did and it really resonated with me at the time. Also Pope's Odyssey is famously not his best work, and was partially ghostwritten iirc

[Anonymous No.16609532]

Just to be clear, everyone, I own all three Fagles because I like Penguin books, and at a certain point it matters more that you own the books than the translator themselves.
>>16607773
Read what >>16607784, >>16608088 said
>>16608135
You're fucking dense

[Anonymous No.16609606]

Every week the same thread is posted, and I'm not angry because the three epics are posted, I'm angry because it's the same thread. Not ere have I seen a discussion of the actual content of the books. Goddamn.

I own all the Fagles, but Fagles' Iliad, Lattimore's Odyssey, Fagles' Aeneid. It matters more that you read it by some decent translator first at the very least.

[Anonymous No.16609619]

T.E. Lawrence translation for the Oddysey

[Anonymous No.16609772]

>>16607220
Butler and Fitzgerald. I enjoyed them both desu but at a reread I would pick Fitzgerald every time. I might read Lattimore sometime in my life but for now I'm plenty satisfied.

[Anonymous No.16609819]

>>16607220
I read Fagle's translation of the Iliad and Odyssey and am thinking I may reread both in Pope's translation.

[Anonymous No.16610584]

You should sign up for audible op. You get one or two free audiobooks and then just cancel after that. The Iliad and Odyssey were meant to be performed. It's a nice way to encounter Homer for the first time in any case. Also I would recommend Fitzgerald but I only have experience with him and Rieu. Both were great though

[Anonymous No.16611064]

>>16609606
contribute then pussy

[Anonymous No.16611133]

>>16611064
I did, retard. Did you?

[Anonymous No.16612174]

>>16607220
PSA: The only people who recommend Fagles are those who have ONLY read Fagles.