2024 the best translation of the iliad review

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"Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus / and its devastation." For sixty years, that's how Homer has begun the Iliad in English, in Richmond Lattimore's faithful translation—the gold standard for generations of students and general readers.

This long-awaited new edition of Lattimore's Iliad is designed to bring the book into the twenty-first century—while leaving the poem as firmly rooted in ancient Greece as ever. Lattimore's elegant, fluent verses—with their memorably phrased heroic epithets and remarkable fidelity to the Greek—remain unchanged, but classicist Richard Martin has added a wealth of supplementary materials designed to aid new generations of readers. A new introduction sets the poem in the wider context of Greek life, warfare, society, and poetry, while line-by-line notes at the back of the volume offer explanations of unfamiliar terms, information about the Greek gods and heroes, and literary appreciation. A glossary and maps round out the book.

The result is a volume that actively invites readers into Homer's poem, helping them to understand fully the worlds in which he and his heroes lived—and thus enabling them to marvel, as so many have for centuries, at Hektor and Ajax, Paris and Helen, and the devastating rage of Achilleus.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Illustrated edition (November 15, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 608 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226470490
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226470498
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
Reviewer: John Dinger
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very well written with great appendix.
Review: The Illiad is not an easy read due to the number of characters and their relationships with others. It's a mental exercise until you get the hang of it. The thing is that you don't have to know every little thing that's going on between these characters to enjoy the story. But if you do want to know, the author has written a really nice appendix to get to the details.It's also really helpful to have Google to look up some of the details in which would be out of the scope of the book to provide. Definitely an educational and fun read and research challenge.Many things that I did not know about the Greek gods and their interactions with mortals on virtually every level. And I mean 'every'. Seems that the gods needed the mortals more than the other way around.

Reviewer: Nick Wilson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent version of Iliad
Review: This is my second journey into the complete Iliad. The first began with Samuel Butler's translation in prose, which reads easily at an astonishing pace. But my e-copy of Butler's version had no notes or references. I decided to cross-reference Butler's Roman names of gods and places with the Greek, and keeping track of them detracted from my sense of experiencing an authentic work.A friend recommended Lattimore's translation for 2 reasons: His use of Greek names and places, but to a greater degree, the care he took to simulate the poems' rhythm, the 'dactylic hexameter' used in the original Greek text.Either way, for the novice, The Iliad is a satisfying read, when accompanied by plenty of Googling and Wikipedia to help with the background and the myths, the old Greek poems' importance and their legacy.The detailed, contemporary introduction by Richard Martin in this Chicago press edition is truly the best reference you could have before launching head-on into the Iliad (you could even almost pack away Wikipedia). He explains poetic conventions, gives history of the text and collects all known studies about the identity of Homer: was he one genius author, or many authors refining great works over generations? His comparisons of the many English translations fascinate me, from the old Shakespearian-era attempts that imposed rhyming lines, to a very modern translation that reads like a cliched Hollywood action script: most of these translations seem worthy. But it reinforces in my mind the validity of Lattimore's noble translation, as one of the most authentic ways for a humble reader of 20th-century English like myself, to connect with the age and greatness of the poem.

Reviewer: spencer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Life Is A Battle
Review: "Let me at least not die without a struggle, inglorious, but do some big thing first, that men to come shall know of it." -Homer (Hector speaking)The ConflictAt the brink of war, two great nations fought for the sake of glory and honor. One for the rescuing of Helen, the wife of Agamemnon, who was stolen by Paris, and the other for the protection of the fate of Ilium. On the defensive you have the Trojans of Ilium (commonly referred to as Troy), and on the offensive you have the Achaians (commonly referred to as the Greeks). The defenders have Hector as their champion of war, as well as Paris, who is the slimy man who stole Helen from the Greeks. The offenders have Achilles, Patroklus, Agamemnon, Odysseus, and the fuel of indistinguishable rage.The GodsOn the one hand this is a battle of mortals, fighting to the death for the honor of an afterlife they aren't even sure is pleasant. On the other hand this is just a microcosm for the chaotic power struggle between the gods of which Zeus is king. Hera, Athena, and Poseidon fight for the Achaians, while Aphrodite, Apollo, and Artemis fight for the Trojans.Life Is A BattleOne can only wonder what Homer was trying to convey by portraying the entire religious and human constitution as a battle. To be human, according to Homer is to be a warrior, battling through life and death for the ultimate prizes that surpass wealth: honor and glory.HonorHonor is that human quality that has to do with moral dignity. Best exemplified in Odysseus, it is standing your ground in the face of death in order to fulfill the duty of a soldier to his fellow warriors, to fight for them as well as yourself. To be an honorable warrior is not the same thing as being a glorious warrior.GloryGlory is that god-like quality of seeking victory and domination for the sake of one's own name. Best exemplified in Achilles, he sought glory in the slaying of Hector, and vengeance in his disgrace. While Achilles was glorious in his victory he was dishonorable in his conduct towards Hector. One can achieve glory without honor just as much as one can achieve honor without glory.A PoemWritten in Homeric Greek, this long narrative is actually a poem. Its rhythm exemplifies tension and conflict, rage and warfare. The gore and detail of the battles show that this is a poem about death and mortality more than it is about life and victory. This point cannot be overstressed: the lives of the Achaians and the Trojans were lives of conflict, battle, war, and rage.A World of ChaosIn the end, the chaotic struggle between men and men, gods and gods, exemplifies the arduous chaos of human life. To be human, according to the Iliad, is to be a fighter. To not fight is to lose, and to not struggle is to be defeated. Whether it be the gods, man, or beast, the good life is the life of constant battle and war.

Reviewer: David Jackson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Just here to confirm all the good reviews of Lattimore's translation. Yes, the syntax is very occasionlt a mangled but a few books in the reader gets used to this. One tip for those new to the Iliad is to check Lattimore's spelling of familiar names notably Achillies and Ajax to avoid having to look them up. Apart from that just dive in. The names index and the notes are both excellent .

Reviewer: Keri and Josh
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Gave as a gift and he loves it so much!

Reviewer: Alex
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Indeed a great translation of the Iliad, that provides the clear text structure of the original.I don't recommend to buy it for the sake of prephrase. The only map in it is taken from other books (like the oxrord history of the classical world) and can be found elsewhere. The explanations themselves do not clear out the meaning of the poem before you read it. After the reading they are meaningless. If you need a reference, use encyclopedias or other research texts. (Google will also work)

Reviewer: teresa
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Tal cual se ve en la fotos. Muy buena edición y la mejor traducción al inglés que he encontrado. Lo recomiendo.

Reviewer: Jack Middleton
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A brilliant publication with an introduction and index. Ideal indentations. Fine paper. The spine does not even crease. The cover art leaves much to be desired however.