"The finest translation of Homer ever made into the English language."--William Arrowsmith
"Certainly the best modern verse translation."--Gilbert Highet
"This magnificent translation of Homer's epic poem . . . will appeal to admirers of Homer and the classics, and the multitude who always wanted to read the great Iliad but never got around to doing so."--The American Book Collector
"Perhaps closer to Homer in every way than any other version made in English."--Peter Green, The New Republic
"The feat is decisive that it is reasonable to foresee a century or so in which nobody will try again to put the Iliad in English verse."--Robert Fitzgerald
"Each new generation is bound to produce new translations. [Lattimore] has done better with nobility, as well as with accuracy, than any other modern verse translator. In our age we do not often find a fine scholar who is also a genuine poet and who takes the greatest pains over the work of translation."--Hugh Lloyd-Jones, New York Review of Books
"Over the long haul Lattimore's translation is more powerful because its effects are more subtle."--Booklist
"Richmond Lattimore is a fine translator of poetry because he has a poetic voice of his own, authentic and unmistakable and yet capable of remarkable range of modulation. His translations make the English reader aware of the poetry."--Moses Hadas, The New York Times
Okay listen.
I know the story at the heart of this is a fascinating story. It’s a crossover tale with so many iconic moments and immortal characters. At its heart, I’m not dismissing the *story* behind The Iliad. I read this three time’s for school - once in high school and twice for college classes - and frankly, I guess I’ve had enough? I was excited when this popped out of my TBR Jar because it’s a classic and so different from what I’ve been reading. But it is SO TEDIOUS and SO SEXIST.
I’m impressed by the people who managed to carry such a story down through centuries in the oral tradition - the memorisation, especially of the banal details like who-was-in-which-ship, is impressive. But as a recreational read, I’m just not into it. The only time I can see myself revisiting this one again is if I wanted to write a retelling. And I think a Trojan War retelling would be AWESOME. But otherwise, I’m all set.
It’s not the story, it’s the writing.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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19 December, 2011:
Reviewed