Best translation of the Iliad and Odyssey?

Joke: MacDonald, Lattimore, Lombardo
Broke: Fagles
Woke: Fitzgerald
Baroque: Pope

>Not Learning Greek for one book
absolutely plebeian

>implying I haven't been studying Latin for a year just for Virgil
check out this fucking plebius maximus

Joke: Lattimore
Broke: Lombardo
Woke: Fagles
Revoke: Fitzgerald
Masterstroke: Pope

The only translation my library has available is by Samuel Butler, how fucked am I?

>reading 36 translations of one book
not autism at all

Pathetic. Reading really does not make you smarter. You have read, according to your post, at least 36 different translations of Homer, but you can't say anything substantial about any of them. You casually shit on Lattimore and Fitzgerald, generally the most highly regarded versions, with literally no arguments. All you can say is wether you like or dislike them. Objective qualities, approach, ease of reading, loyalty to the original, all that stuff can go fuck itself, right?
And why would German be a so much better language for Homer? Can you use real quantitative hexameter in it or what?

Any opinions on the new Vintage translation by Alexander? Got a copy but haven't read it yet.

From an Amazon review:

Rage--Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
Murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of Death so many souls,
great fighters’ souls. But made their bodies carrion,
feasts for dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving towards its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles."
-Translated by Robert Fagles, 1990

“Sing, O Goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a heroes did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles first fell out with one another.”
-Translated by Samuel Butler, 1888

“Rage:
Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades’ dark,
And let their bodies rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus’ will was done.
Begin with the clash between Agamemnon—
The Greek Warlord—and godlike Achilles.”
-Translated by Stanley Lombardo, 1997

“Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus’ anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men—carrion
for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
Begin it when the two men first contending
broke with one another—
the Lord Marshal Agamémnon, Atreus’ son, and Prince Akhilleus.”
-Translated by Translated by Robert Fitzgerald, 1963

“Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son of Achilleus and its devastation, which puts pains thousandfold upon the Achains,
hurled in the multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood the division of conflict Atrecus’ son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus.”
–Translated by Richmond Lattimore, 1951

“Sing, goddess, of Peleus’ son Achilles’ anger, ruinous, that caused the Greeks untold ordeals, consigned to Hades countless valiant souls, heroes, and left their bodies prey for dogs or feast for vultures. Zeus’s will was done from when those two first quarreled and split apart, the king, Agamemnon, and matchless Achilles.”
-Translated by Herbert Jordan, 2008

“An angry man-there is my story: the bitter rancor of Achillês, prince of the house of Peleus, which brought a thousand troubles upon the Achaian host. Many a strong soul it sent down to Hadês, and left the heroes themselves a prey to the dogs and carrion birds, while the will of God moved on to fulfillment.”
-Translated and transliterated by W.H.D. Rouse, 1950

“Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurl’d to Pluto’s gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom,
and such the will of Jove!”
-Translated by Alexander Pope, 1720

“Achilles sing, O Goddess! Peleus’ son;
His wrath pernicious, who ten thousand woes
Caused to Achaia’s host, sent many a soul
Illustrious into Ades premature,
And Heroes gave (so stood the will of Jove)
To dogs and to all ravening fowls a prey,
When fierce dispute had separated once
The noble Chief Achilles from the son
Of Atreus, Agamemnon, King of men.”
-Translated by William Cowper, London 1791

“Achilles’ baneful wrath – resound, O goddess – that impos’d
Infinite sorrow on the Greeks, and the brave souls loos’d
From beasts heroic; sent them far, to that invisible cave*
That no light comforts; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave:
To all which Jove’s will give effect; from whom the first strife begun
Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis’ godlike son*”
-Translated by George Chapman, 1616

“The Rage of Achilles—sing it now, goddess, sing through me
the deadly rage that caused the Achaeans such grief
and hurled down to Hades the souls of so many fighters,
leaving their naked flesh to be eaten by dogs
and carrion birds, as the will of Zeus was accomplished.
Begin at the time when bitter words first divided
that king of men, Agamemnon, and godlike Achilles.”
-Translated by Stephen Mitchell

“Sing now, goddess, the wrath of Achilles the scion of Peleus,
ruinous rage which brought the Achaians uncounted afflictions;
many of the powerful souls it sent to the dwelling of Hades,
those of the heroes, and spoil for the dogs it made it their bodies,
plunder for the birds, and the purpose of Zeus was accomplished__”
-Translated by Rodney Merrill

“Sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles, Peleus’ son,
the accused anger which brought the Achaeans countless
agonies and hurled many mighty shades of heroes into Hades,
causing them to become the prey of dogs
and all kinds of birds; and the plan of Zeus was fulfilled.”
-Translated by Anthony Verity
Antony does not attempt to be poetic. The line numbers are close to the original.

“Of Peleus’ son, Achilles, sing, O Muse,
The vengeance, deep and deadly; whence to Greece
Unnumbered ills arose; which many a soul
Of mighty warriors to the viewless shades
Ultimately sent; they on the battle plain
Unburied lay, to rav’ning dogs,
And carrion birds; but had Jove decreed,”
-Translated by Edward Smith-Stanly 1862

“Sing, Goddess of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus-
that murderous anger witch condemned Achaeans
to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls
deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies
carrion food for dogs and birds-
all in the fulfillment of the will of Zeus”
- Translated by Professor Ian Johnston, British Columbia 2006

“The rage, sing O goddess, of Achilles, son of Peleus,
The destructive anger that brought ten-thousand pains to the
Achaeans and sent many brave souls of fighting men to the house
of Hades and made their bodies a feast for dogs
and all kinds of birds. For such was the will of Zeus.”
- Translated by Barry B. Powell

“Wrath, goddess, sing of Achilles Pēleus’s son’s calamitous wrath, which hit the Achaians countless ills many the valiant souls it saw off down to Hādēs, souls of heroes, their selves left as carrion for dogs and all birds of prey, and the plan of Zeus was fulfilled from the first moment those two men parted in fury, Atreus’s son, king of men, and the godlike Achilles.”
-Translated by Peter Green

“Sing, goddess, the wrath of Achilles Peleus' son, the ruinous wrath that brought on the Achaians woes innumerable, and hurled down into Hades many strong souls of heroes, and gave their bodies to be a prey to dogs and all winged fowls; and so the counsel of Zeus wrought out its accomplishment from the day when first strife parted Atreides king of men and noble Achilles.”
- Translated by Andrew Lang, M.A., Walter Leaf, Litt.D., And Ernest Myers, M.A.
Books I. - IX. . . . . W. Leaf.
" X. - XVI. . . . . A. Lang.
" XVII. - XXIV. . . . . E. Myers.

Wrath–sing, goddess, of the ruinous wrath of Peleus’ son Achilles,
that inflicted woes without number upon the Achaeans,
hurled fourth to Hades many strong souls of warriors
and rendered their bodies prey for the dogs,
for all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished;
sing from when they to first stood in conflict-
Ateus’ son, lord of men, and godlike Achilles.
-Translated by Caroline Alexander

Fitzgerald and Fagles seem like the best ones

Which makes it the most accurate, since Homer was also a badass.

records.viu.ca/~Johnstoi/homer/homertranslations.htm

Samuel Butler master race

A literal translation works really well for the Iliad, so I'd go with Lattimore. Not so much for the Odysseus, Fitzgerald seems best

Not op but majored in German, intererested in recs.

Also fluent in French and Spanish

My vote is for Fagles or Mitchell.

>not studying Latin for Ovid and Horace too
it seems you have revealed yourself to be the plebian

>and such the will of Jove!”
Pope is a hack. Who in their right mind would use the Latin to describe the Greek?

My vote goes to Lattimore. Sounds better and takes fewer liberties to accomplish such.

post german ranks

It's fine. It's in prose so the memestars here will give you shit over it though.

>an entire translation in rhyming iambic pentameter
>"what a hack"
Kill thyself

IMO, you get a lot of the same stuff in the first section. The following one (the conversation between Chryses and Agamemnon) gives a better feel for the text, since there are a lot of ways to 1) translate the speeches, 2) give Chryses a voice distinct from Agamemnon, while 3) establish Agamemnon's voice and role in the rest of the story.

Can anyone tell me if Dryden's Aeneid is good for a first time reading?
I know Pope's Iliad would be bad for a first time reading, because it's more Pope than Homer, and I'm worried Dryden's Aeneid would be the same.

Blank verse would have been tolerable.

I hope you are ironic with your criticism of Pope.

>english is a suboptimal language for it
That's the first time I ever heard something like that. What you think about russian?

No, it's a tremendous anachronism. And for what, the sake of a rhyme?

Dryden is a pain to read. Get a modern Penguin translation, in prose (it's closer to the original Greek).

Fagles or pack it up.

Pope translated in the time when there were few translations of Homer at all, but everyone knew the Roman mythology (Vergil, Seneca and other Roman writers were much more highly regarded than the Greeks up until romanticism; Homer was seen as too barbaric and Vergil was more refined). It would be ridiculous to expect people to know the Greek pantheon. Pope did it simply for the sake of accessibility and you have autism if it bothers you so much.

Are there any opinions on the Samuel Butler translations?

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>Ovid and Horace are the only other people he can name.
Vulgate, Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, a whole slew of other theologians, Marcus Aurelius, Tacitus, Plautus, Terence, Cicero, Lucretium, Seneca, Sextus Empiricus, Catullus, Julius Caesar, Juvenal, etc.

>CHAP
>MAN'S
>HOMER

F I T Z G E R A L D
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The wrong should not be accommodated.

>Marcus Aurelius
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