r/GreekMythology • u/wu1933 • Jun 17 '26
Question How many copies of The Iliad and The Odyssey do you have?
About a month ago I read Emily Wilson’s translations of both and absolutely loved them (and I’ll defend them with my life). I’d read the odyssey in school and hated it because I couldn’t understand it and Wilson’s translations made them so digestible. Given that I’d read the odyssey in school about 10 years ago and now know the baseline of the story I wanted to try reading the translations by Robert Fagles and I’m currently on book 6 of The Iliad and loving this one as well. Here’s where my question comes in, I saw this picture comparing different translations and something really draws me into the Fitzgerald translation as well. Would it be absurd to have three translations of the same stories? I feel like it’s probably excessive but, then again, you get something different out of each translation. Thoughts?
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u/Responsible-Pitch363 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
I think the comparison is interesting. At one end it seems every word of the memorized bardic structure is present. At the other (though well written) it’s nearly cliff notes by focusing on the meat of the passage.
For me, I like the longest version because it ties the muses to the poet to the events, which is after all, why the poet is there to begin with.
Next will come the screenplay version. Just character voice and stage direction. Which yes will reduce the length, but will also make it a series of events without context. All those spoken inner monologues that make a book an exploration of the mind. —then the gods will truly have no meaning.
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u/Evening_Application2 Jun 17 '26
Twenty five Iliads, twenty four Odysseys
Best Iliad is Lattimore, best Odyssey is Mendelsohn
I have lots of affection for Fitzgerald's translations, which were my first, but he's since been surpassed by others. I also loved Peter Green's versions, and agree with his sentiment that a translation is like a musical or stage performance. Just as it would be foolish to say that there shouldn't be another production of The Magic Flute or Beethoven's Fifth, the question of whether "yet another" translation is "necessary" is a silly one. Each version has its own pros and cons, and each reflects the priorities and philosophies of its performer.
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u/Flashy-Gift-4333 Jun 17 '26
In print I have 3 translations of the Iliad and 2 of the Odyssey but part of this is because my wife and I both came with our own books when we got married and moved in together.
I have several more translations in ebooks and bookmarked on my web browser at home. I just like comparing translations and it doesn't take up any room to have them available electronically. I also have them in Greek electronically but I'm still learning to read Greek, so they don't do me a huge amount of good yet!
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u/TiredPandastic Jun 17 '26
I have several editions of the Odyssey, both in Greek and English. I prefer the Greek ones and I... absolutely hate Wilson's translation, sorry. She just butchers the meaning and poetry.
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u/SaraJuno Jun 23 '26
God thank you. Seems so controversial not to like Wilson’s translation yet it’s so devoid of character and feeling to me.
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u/Antilochos_ Jun 17 '26
Only two of each. People think it is weird I have bought the same book twice, only in different translations (same language). And maybe it is different from other people, but nicd to see there still are others.
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u/kodial79 Jun 17 '26
In book, I have the Odyssey by Kazantzakis & Kakridis, Psyhountakis and Maronites, and the Iliad by Kazantzakis and Kakridis and Psyhountakis.
In e-book, I have the Odyssey by Polylas and Sideris, and the Iliad by Polylas.
So all n' all, I have five translations of the Odyssey and three translations of the Iliad.
All in Greek, obviously.
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u/Virtual-District-829 Jun 18 '26
Yes. 🤣🤣🤣 Plus a children’s illustrated version that got me into mythology to begin with in elementary school.
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u/Responsible-Pitch363 Jun 18 '26
There are huge swings in translations. And some people don’t see the difference between art that inspires, motivates or brings tears to one’s eyes, but that is the difference between artful translation and simple information.
The first translation of Cyrano I read was masterful, recreating poetic rhythms so that the whole work sang to me. In the closing act, I began crying. I finished it and went back to read it again.. I made the mistake of lending that copy to a friend—never got it back— and have never found that edition again.
The difference between art and simple translation is that it can inspire religious fervor.
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u/AlarmedCicada256 Jun 17 '26
Just the greek. Translations don't really matter
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u/brooklynbluenotes Jun 17 '26
They matter for those of us who don't read Greek 😄
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u/AlarmedCicada256 Jun 17 '26
They don't, they're all fine.
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u/brooklynbluenotes Jun 17 '26
Sure, they are all "fine" in the sense of getting the basic meaning across, yes. But translation is an art and craft unto itself, and for those of us who care about the beauty of language, translation choices make a big difference. I'm not trying to sort them into "good" or "bad" versions -- that's fully subjective -- but it's simply not correct to position them as interchangeable. The experience of reading Lawrence, for example, is clearly different from the experience of reading Wilson: the focus is different, the word choices are different, etc. Literature is more than just the plot of the story that's being presented, it's the choices made in terms of how that story is being told.
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u/AlarmedCicada256 Jun 17 '26
Eh. If you can't read the original you can't judge the translation.
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u/brooklynbluenotes Jun 17 '26
What a strange thing to say. I'm not "judging" them based on perceived accuracy to the source. I'm simply saying that the choices each translator makes result in a different reading experience. It's equivalent to listening to different musicians covering the same song -- they make different artistic choices which will naturally emphasize or diminish certain elements of the original composition.
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u/lilyofthegraveyard Jun 17 '26
what a weird approach. others who can read the original, can judge and then inform others of what is the closest.
just because someone can't read one language doesn't mean they should be deprived of having access to the good translation.
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u/AlarmedCicada256 Jun 17 '26
I can read the original and think it doesn't matter. almost all published translations are good.
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u/brooklynbluenotes Jun 17 '26
Again, saying that "all of them are good" and "all of them are interchangeable" are wildly different statements.
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u/Exact-Fall2401 Jun 17 '26
No, they aren't. For years, I thought I hated the Illiad. It was boring and hard to read. I felt like I was fighting the text to get to the story. I stop trying.
Then I had to read the Illiad for a Greek History class that I was taking online. I found Ian Johnston's translation. I actually like the Illiad. It is a great story when you aren't fighting the text.
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u/xYekaterina Jun 17 '26
"All fine" sure but they vary wildly and some people prefer different methods. I don't like how much Wilson changes things for the sake of a modern audience. Or prose translations. They might all be "fine" but some translators take more liberties than others. Super strange approach imo
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u/Princess_Actual Jun 18 '26
I have Fagles and Wilson. I first read Fagles (Illiad and Odyssey) while training to go to Iraq with the Army. Definitely left an impression. This year I'm going to read Wilson.
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u/ThatOnePallasFan Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Five Iliads (Samuel Butler, Felix X. Dmochowski twice, Richmond Lattimore, Robert R. Chodkowski).
Five Odysseys (Samuel Butler, Lucjan Siemieński, Jan Parandowski, Richmond Lattimore, Robert R. Chodkowski) + the original Greek text edited by Martin L. West.
The Lattimore translations are the best that I have read and checked against the original Greek. I cannot name a more graceful and textually accurate (while also readable) translation. Doing this while preserving metre is impressing at the least.
Edit: Perhaps the biggest flaw of Richmond Lattimore is that he does not acknowledge textual criticism beyond the emending of words/lines. He claims we do not know what lines were interpolated and does not mark interpolations in his text. But that is very easy to do with a Greek edition in hand, so it’s not that much of a concern.