Best translations for the Iliad and Odyssey?
chapman desu
>>7682887
What do you think it is about Chapman's translations that are valuable?
>>7682874
self bumpity
>>7682874
Prose or poetry translations best?
>>7682897
Chapman has john keats' endorsement
But that was before Merrill, which is only correct answer now
>>7682897
It's a poetic translation like pope's, but stays true to the original unlike pope's.
If you are not good at reading poetry, read a different translation first.
Different translations offer different experiences and aspects of the illiad.
What are you looking for? A story? Then read the prose translation. Something closer to the original? A poetic translation... Something that continues the tradition of the poem? Read Pope
>>7682874
fagles
chances are any translation you find is worth reading.
>>7682874
I liked Fagles.
if you are going to read English, you have to read Pope
how can you pass up on the bargain of reading two great poets at once?
Is Iliad fun to read? I heard a lot of people say it's mostly fight descriptions with little plot and not as enjoyable as Odyssey
Is this a book best 'read' through an audiobook or read itself? Undecided.
>>7683398
The fight descriptions can be lengthy, but little plot? lol no.
>>7683403
Nothing is better as an audiobook, they're for lazy plebsor while driving.
>>7683413
>he doesn't read while driving
it's as if you wanted to be a pansy
>>7683413
Well, alright.
>>7683120
good post
Lattimore.
>>7683403
>audiobooks
>>7683413
>audiobooks while driving
Achilles and patroclus were lovers. >>7683382
The poem is a transcription of many ballads. Each bard would improvise and restructure and add to the story as they performed and homer did the same. There are many instances where his version of certain side stories deviates from other accounts.
So it's obvious that being literal and accurate are not important to the epic. This is why Pope's translation stands out because it is so different, and partly his own creation, but he still delivers the same story.
>>7683528
What about when doing cardio?
>>7684648
>Achilles and patroclus were lovers.
No they weren't.
>>7683528
>not appreciating that Homer's work was made to be read aloud
>>7685994
Attic Greek audio book is acceptable.
>>7684648
>So it's obvious that being literal and accurate are not important to the epic.
Not sure that follows. We don't really know to what degree the Iliad and Odyssey differed from performance to performance. Certainly the Greeks preferred *Homer's* version over almost all others, and when rhapsodes would recite his poems, they partly did so by the standard of not adding or subtracting anything from it.
Ergo, Lattimore's translation. Or Merrill or Chapman.
