The Iliad / The Odyssey
by Homer
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Book Reviews of The Iliad / The Odyssey
Book Review: DON'T buy into the Fagles "hype"!
Summary: 1 Stars
Although I respect Fagles as a modern translator, I cannot recommend his translations of Homer...I would probably only recommend his translations of Sophocles's 3 Theban Plays.
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey don't sound like Epics anymore under Fagles...they are turned into mild nice sounding children stories! He tones down Homer to the point that I feel that Fagels wants his personality to shine NOT Homer's! I am gravely disappointed by this.
I also find that he not only forces beauty into the text but adds too much of his personal warmth that gets in the way of the texts and creates a vision of Homer's epics that is truly unsound to the original.
Not only that but the font and design of the print is an eye sore, I don't like the choice the publishers and Fagles gave to the works. It doesn't make for easy reading...
Stanley Lombardo's translations are unparalleled in their print layout, design and font...not to say vivid and powerful evocative translation.
I continue to find Richmond Lattimore's facinating translations the most accurate to how the Ancient Greek language sounds to English ears. I would buy Lattimore over Fagles (and Fitzgerald).
And I still think Rieu's famous Prose version from 1946 is hard to beat for it's modernity and readibility.
...Find out for yourself by comparing a few versions but don't be duped into this mysterious "Fagles hype"!
Book Review: Classics in an excellent format/binding - making it a great read!
Summary: 5 Stars
With many recent movies (e.g. Troy with Brad Pitt) and the older B/W versions, on cable lately, my husband expressed an interest in re-reading these classics. After examining the books available and their reviews, I settled on purchasing this version combining the two - Iliad and Odyssey. The boxed set and format/quality of these books really filled my idea as to how to have these classic stories on paper. My husband is already entralled in reading the first and has stated that he really enjoys the translation and feels that it does bring to life these stories in the original form, not the revamped current movie versions. The Greek mythos is a delight to his reading thus our conversations on the book so far has stimulated my interest in reading the books, too...it has been far too long since I even thought of revisiting these books once read in high school.
So the quality of these classics is very apparent in the appearance, binding and paper - hence the cost for this boxed set is 100% worth it! You won't be disappointed by the visual fact of the set, nor reading the translation of these classic books.
Book Review: An Excellent Read; A little wordy, but a good set of books
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is an excellent translation. Through this set, I have come to trust Robert Fagles and his translations. Although it is written in classical language, and thus may be hard for some readers to understand, I thoroughly enjoyed reading these classic pieces of Greek literature and mythology.
The struggle between the gods and the men they love (and hate) is all a part of the Greek beliefs system, and these books characterize that ideology. In the Iliad, not only are the men fighting against themselves, but the men are fighting the gods, and the gods are even fighting each other. This shows the Greek beliefs that the gods are flawed, just like the men they created, and they make mistakes too. This set gives excellent insight into the way the Greeks viewed their world and their gods.
I highly recommend this set for anyone who is interested in classic literature, or if someone just wants a good mythology story. Except for the fact that it is sometimes a bit wordy with the descriptions, these are amazing books that really give the reader a look into the Greek mindset.
Book Review: A readable Iliad in modern idiom
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Fagles's translation of Homer's Iliad is spiritually if not literally true to the original. Both versions repeat set speeches and descriptions in precisely the same words, and the translation exhibits a fairly regular rhythmic beat. But Homer's Greek was chanted, and the set passages were like refrains in which listeners could, if they chose, join in as a chorus. In English, the repetitions sometimes become tedious, especially when the same speech is given three times in two pages, as in the relay of Zeus's orders in Book II. Especially noteworthy is Bernard Knox's long and fascinating Introduction, which conveys Homer's grim attitude toward war, the interplay of divine and human will, and the ancient concepts of honor, courage, and virility in the face of the stark finality of death. Knox also includes a succinct explanation of the quantitative, rather than accentual, basis of Greek (and Latin) verse. For easy readability, Fagles's translation is without rival. For elegance and poetry, however, I recommend Richmond Lattimore's older but still gripping and fluent translation.Book Review: A Man of many twists and turns
Summary: 5 Stars
The question is not should you read Homer but what translation to read. The Iliad and The Odyssey have surivived longer than any other western story because they speak to us, even today, powerfully of life and are deep enought to speak differently at diferent points in our own life. Both books teach us lessons from our forgtten past and tell us how men and women should live their lives. The Iliad opens with the strugle between Achilles and Agamenon. Anyone who works in an office can recognize these characters and their struggles as they occur today on the smaller stage of our cubicles.
What will draw you to Fagle is the words. He opens the Odyssey not by saying Odysseus is devious but by saying "He is a man of many twists and turn". This implies not just that Odysseus is devious but that his trip home will not be a straight path. It's also a beautiful phrase that captures Homer better than any more formal and literal translation.
All I can say is that I love these books and this is the translation I enjoy the most.