Lattimore and correspond to the original greek text. This is one of the dozens of extended similes that homer uses to convey how a given event looks and feels. Martin of stanford university was sure enough to compare lattimores translation of ten lines from book nine 9. A faithful translation of the iliad a wordforword literal rendition of homers epic.
Ragegoddess, sing the rage of peleus son achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the achaeans countless losses. Why, patroclus, art thou bathed in tears, like a girl, a mere babe, that runneth by her mothers. This study guide consists of approximately 114 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the iliad. At the beginning of book 16 of the iliad, patroclus, achilles companion, comes to him weeping. Home english literature classic books the iliad navigate here note book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi book vii book viii book ix book x book xi book xii book xiii book xiv book xv book xvi book xvii book xviii book xix book xx book xxi book xxii book xxiii book xxiv. While achilleus still refuses to return to battle, his friend, patroklos, persuades him to let him fight in his place.
Fagles was best known for his versions of the iliad 1990, the odyssey 1996 and the aeneid 2006. These are from 16 pages book ix a visit of the emissaries to 5 pages book x night in the camp. Apollos priest chryses comes to the achaian camp and asks to ransom back his daughter chryseis, who has been captured. The desire to protect sarpedons body motivates hector to return to battle where hector and patroclus face off in a literal tugofwar over the body of hectors driver. The iliad summary in the tenth year of the trojan war, tensions are running high among the achaians a superancient name for the ancient greeks. The first scene of the iliad finds chryses, the priest of apollo god of the sun and a whole lot of other stuff, approaching the achaian camp to ask for his daughter back. Meanwhile, patroclus goes to achilles tent and begs to be allowed to wear achilles armor if achilles still refuses to rejoin the battle himself.
Book 17, line 5 the trojan euphorbus comes to take the body but king menelaus will not yield. A good way of getting a sense of the values and priorities of the iliad s many translators is to compare how they translate a given. Homers iliad, book 16 homers iliad, book 16 homers rich use of similes in book 16 of the iliad serve an important role in not only emphasizing but also dramatizing specific scenes with meaning. The best showcases for these comparisons arent necessarily the poems big moments but. It is sound, solid, clear and direct, and respectful of homers original. As they fought on around the benched ship, patroclus, hot tears pouring down his face like a stream of dark water flowing in dusky streaks down the face of a sheer cliff, returned to achilles, leader of men. My favorite translation is the fagles of both the odyssey and the iliad. Get a detailed summary and analysis of every chapter in the book from. Its free form, doesnt have any specific meter or rhyme scheme. Translations of the iliad are composed using one of the following formats. It is an epic poem, written in ancient greek but assumed to be derived from earlier oral sources, and tells much of the story of the legendary trojan war between mainland greece and the city of troy in asia minor. Some noteworthy aspects of that encounter you can tease out their implications for yourself are.
The iliad, an epic poem attributed to homer and the oldest extant piece of european literature, is conventionally divided into 24 books. Then patroclus drew near to achilles with tears welling from. New translation of the iliad by caroline alexander. Zeus awakes from his slumber and sees the catastrophe created in his absence. Book i 47k book ii 63k book iii 36k book iv 42k book v 66k book vi 42k book vii 38k. Do some research into each individual work and find translation comparisons online to help you decide. The point is, now that you know what the things are, its high time we jumped into the middle of them. This is only my opinion on the subject and as such, any misinterpretations in facts will be due to my misinterpretation of information or the translation of the original greek to english version of the iliad.
Agamemnon fears losing and proposes sailing away while the army still fights. Mar 18, 2016 at the beginning of book 16 of the iliad, patroclus, achilles companion, comes to him weeping. Reading his iliad, one feels the constraint and fulfillment of meter and, as in homers original greek, the stability of the verse provides a counterweight to the pressure and energy of the action. Thats what youll find in most undergraduate courses. Dissimilar to the figure of speech that is familiar today, homers elaborated form of comparison suggests a whole new meaning to the common. New translation of the iliad by caroline alexander extract. Then patroclus drew near to achilles with tears welling. Hearing the sounds of battle, nestor gathers the wounded achaean commanders.
The trojans, seeing the fresh reinforcements and thinking that achilles has returned, immediately begin to fear for their lives. With her virtuoso translation, classicist and bestselling author caroline alexander brings to life homers timeless epic of the trojan war. The new translation by caroline alexander breaks the tradition of the iliad being translated by men. The iliad has been divided into the following sections. Homer uses a simile to describe the flow of patroclus tears ive given you the transliterated greek, and then a literal translation below. Books sixteen to twentytwo all quotations from the iliad are from the translation of richmond lattimore, university of chicago press, 1951like book nine, book sixteen marks a crucial turning point in the iliad. The battle rages on between the trojan and achaean forces, and patroclus devises a scheme to free the achaean ships from the trojans. Book xiii 65k book xvii 57k book xviii 48k book xxii 44k book xxiii 68k book xxiv 62k download.
It is a curious fact about the iliad that, for all its focus on the theme of death, it rarely shows characters longing for immortality. A little over a year ago i read the fagles translation and am feeling pulled back to reading it again, and like many people i dont really have the time to learn and read in ancient greek, but i would like to read another quality translation. The poet invokes a muse to aid him in telling the story of the rage of achilles, the greatest greek hero to fight in the trojan war. Here is mitchell translating the opening lines of book 16. Finding the best translation of the iliad old books. Homer, sentimentalism, and popes translation of the iliad jstor. Noble achilles, the fleet of foot, saw and pitied him, and spoke to him with winged words. The iliad of homer has been translated in a totally new way and with a quality and fidelity that has never been done before. English translation of homers iliad by theodore alois buckley. Books sixteen to twentytwo all quotations from the iliad are from the translation of richmond lattimore, university of. First, the priest chryses comes to ask their leader, king agamemnon, to release his daughter, whom agamemnon was holding captive. Zeus accepts her oaths and tells her they must reign in. Patroclus begins killing trojans, and the achaeans drive the trojans back from the warships.
This is a list of english translations of the main works attributed to homer, the iliad and odyssey. The iliad begins with the poet calling on the muse to sing of the wrath of achilleus and its consequences. In his note on the translation, verity renounces both poetry and poetizing. With an interlinear translation, for the use of schools and private learners. Alexanders translation preserves the line numbers with the ancient greek. The iliad by homer, part of the internet classics archive.
Patrokloss overstepping the bounds set him by first achilles see above, then apollo lines 707709, effectively dooming himself. The pertinent question for every translation is, what makes this one different. Hera, trying to escape blame, swears that she did not make poseidon help the achaeans. Feeling pity for hector, he curses hera for her disobedience, promising to punish her. Patroclus returns to achilles camp, crying with pity for the achaean losses. Euphorbus strikes at him and misses only to be killed by menelaus. The deaths of sarpedon and patroklos in this book introduce an elegiac tone into the last part of the iliad, as the characters that the reader sees. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Ive finished 16 books since i got back into reading this time. I dont think i could make it through a verse version of this book unless it was for school. Composed around 730 bc, homers iliad recounts the events of a few momentous weeks in the protracted 10year war between the invading achaeans, or greeks, and the trojans in their besieged city of ilion.
In his introduction to lattimores reissued version of the iliad in 2011, richard p. Book xvi of a new complete english translation with hyper linked index. The iliad, a major founding work of european literature, is usually dated to around the 8th century bc, and attributed to homer. Battles over fallen comrades become more significant in book 16. Until now, achilles has been torn by a conflict between the noble elements of his soul. His first published translation was of the greek poet bacchylides 1961, which was followed by versions of the oresteia by aeschylus and the plays, antigone, oedipus the king and oedipus at colonus by sophocles. Purchase a copy of this text not necessarily the same edition from. Homer, iliad book 16 theoi classical texts library. Feb 09, 2016 caroline alexanders translation of the iliad is published by vintage, priced. Two generations ago, richmond lattimores iliad of homer which the university of.
Quite a few comments have been posted about the iliad. The first six books of homers iliad, the original text. The embassy to achilles lines 318327 in his introduction to lattimores reissued version of the iliad in 2011, richard p. Menelaus observes the death of patroclus and runs to guard his body like a mother cow lowing over a calf. The best english translation of iliad homer, the trojan.
I now have the lattimore translation and i want to compare it to the fagles version. What are the best english translations of homers the. He has made a fatal decision, and the deaths of sarpedon, patroklos, hektor, achilles himself, and the fall of troy all inevitably follow. Full of his own glory, patroclus indulges in a poetic conceit, comparing the fallen eyeballs to oysters in the deep.
Here youll find an approximately onepage summary of each book, a description of the major characters and sometimes places, and an english translation. Apr, 2017 the generations of men are like leaves on a tree, homer wrote in iliad book 6, and new versions of his poem have occupied many leaves and have required the felling of countless trees. Nov 23, 2015 the first english translation was rendered by the elizabethan george chapman. With patroclus leading them, the myrmidons swarm into battle, and are described as being like wasps that a boy has angered. The literal form of each word in the ancient homeric greek is methodically preserved and the order of words is. Oct 16, 2012 this is by no means a 100% accurate comparison of homers iliad and wolfgang petersens troy. Increase your understanding of the iliad by completing the lesson titled, the iliad book 16 summary. Book translations, abridged versions, enriched versions. Lattimores iliad remains probably the most direct and reliable translation of. The present translation of the iliad will, it is hoped, be found to convey, more accurately than any which has preceded it, the words and thoughts of the original. The iliad cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the iliad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Pages 80299 the rest is index make up the commentaries on the 24 books of the iliad.
Odysseus contemptuously rejects the idea, and diomedes offers a better plan. This lesson focuses on book 16 of the iliad by homer. What are the best english translations of homers the iliad. A new translation by caroline alexander 9780062046284. Oct 18, 2010 finding the best translation of the iliad october 18, 2010 chad gibbons leave a comment go to comments there are several considerations to keep in mind when deciding on an english translation of the iliad. The deaths of sarpedon and patroklos in this book introduce an elegiac tone into the last part of the iliad, as the characters that the reader sees as sympathetic are killed. This is one of the few times when this happens, and it is interesting that hektor says it out of excitement wanting the moment to last forever instead of despair at a moment passing. Achilles declines to fight but agrees to the exchange of armor, with the understanding that patroclus will fight only long enough to save the ships. A knowledge of homers iliad pretty much means a sampling of an englishlanguage narrative. The annenberg cpbproject provided support for entering this text.
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