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The Iliad of Homer [Paperback]

Homer , Richmond Lattimore
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)

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Paperback, Jun 1 1961 --  
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Book Description

Jun 1 1961 Phoenix Books
"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

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Review

"Both lucid and learned, Lattimore writes with a certain grace, capturing the combination of nobility and speed which over 100 years ago Matthew Arnold famously heard in Homer’s work. . . . Read Richmond Lattimore's translation for the epic scale and narrative of Homer's poem."

(Economist )

"Martin's introduction surpasses all rivals. . . . Lattimore's Iliad is best for those who want to feel the epic from the loins up, its rush, its reprieves, and its overwhelming rage." (Chronicle of Higher Education ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Though he is traditionally credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, there is no reliable information about an actual, historical Homer. In antiquity, he was an honored figure, despite little being known about his life or even his era; he was credited then with several other shorter works in addition to the two epics. Current scholarship tends to view the poems as the work of many hands over many years, with differing opinions on the role and importance of any single figure in their creation or promulgation.


Richmond Lattimore (1906–1984) was a poet, translator, and longtime professor of Greek at Bryn Mawr College.

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate, inspired translation July 7 2004
Format:Paperback
Most are already familiar with the wartorn story of Homer's Iliad, so my only commentary is on this particular translation: it is, by merits of its flow and its close approximation of the original's hexameter, the best ever made into the English language. Lattimore does not attempt to make this 3,000 year-old epic into a flowery sonnet, a Shakespearian drama, or a willfully noble tale--instead, he goes to great lengths to preserve the feeling and the connotation of Homer's story, rendering it in highly readable, fast-paced verse that allows the reader to grasp the melodic and repetitive nature of the Greek. He consistently preserves every flavorful epithet, and thus convey the Iliad's power as closely as one can in translation. I would go so far as to say that this translation outstrips that of couplet extraordinaire Alexander Pope, for the latter's is not Homer, but rather a distant interpretation; unlike Lattimore's, it tries to make the Iliad into what it is not. For a clear picture of the original story of the Trojan War, by all means read the Lattimore version.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A noble effort... Feb 8 2004
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
For Homer to take his place among our classics it must be the case that a rendering could exercise the same spell over the collective ear as English-language poets. You could not memorize Fagles, or Lattimore - or Hobbes, a few phrases apart - while Pope, even at his least Homeric, is memorable.

Lattimore:

The day that orphans a youngster cuts him off from friends.
And he hangs his head low, humiliated in every way. . .
his cheeks streaked with tears, and pressed by hunger
the boy goes up to his father's old companions,
tugging at one man's cloak, another's tunic,
and some will pity him, true,
and one will give him a little cup to drink,
enough to wet his lips, not quench his thirst.
But then some bully with both his parents living,
beats him from the banquet, fists and abuses flying,
'You, get out - you've got no father feasting with us here!'
And the boy, sobbing, trails home to his widowed mother. . .
Astyanax!

Pope:

The Day, that to the Shades the Father sends,
Robs the sad Orphan of his Father's Friends:
He, wretched Outcast of Mankind! appears
For ever sad, for ever bath'd in Tears;
Amongst the Happy, unregarded he,
Hangs on the Robe, or trembles at the Knee,
While those his Father's former bounty fed,
Nor reach the Goblet, nor divide the Bread:
The Kindest but his present Wants allay,
To leave him wretched the succeeding Day.
Frugal Compassion! Heedless they who boast
Both Parents still, nor feel what he has lost,
Shall cry, 'Begone! Thy Father feasts not here':
The Wretch obeys, retiring with a Tear.
Thus wretched, thus retiring all in Tears,
To my sad soul Astyanax appears!

You decide.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Lattimore's Triumph April 20 2004
Format:Paperback
Few translators have had the success that Richmond Lattimore has when it comes to THE ILIAD. I would be hard pressed to find a better translation since others are either too literal to be poetic or too liberal to be faithful to Homer's story. Alexander Pope's is, of course, one of the greatest, but you have to go back 250 years to find one as enduring as Lattimore's.
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Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Best verse translation of Homer's Iliad
Of all the verse translations of Homer's Iliad that I have read, Lattimore's is certainly the finest. Read more
Published on April 5 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars Lattimore's Iliad: admirable, but too close to prose.
Richmond Lattimore tries to give his translation the feel of "Greek-ness" by keeping the "k" in proper names instead of Latinizing them to "c" (and... Read more
Published on Mar 16 2004 by Fan of Fred Williamson
5.0 out of 5 stars Mythology Rules
The Iliad by Homer is a book that i think everyone can enjoy it comes in a lot of different reading levels and is relativly easy to understand. Read more
Published on Mar 15 2004 by Thomas Donovan
4.0 out of 5 stars The Iliad by Homer
The world of mythology not only interests but captivates young men. The idea of having gods that play with the outcome of everything may be what a female likes to read about. Read more
Published on Mar 10 2004 by Nicholas Busse-Paul
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Example of the Utter Foolishness of War
Those Greeks got just about everything right, as Plato would put it, "only the dead have seen the end of war. Read more
Published on Mar 7 2004 by Chris W. Greenwald
5.0 out of 5 stars Enough criticism--what does it really mean?
I will not pretend to know much about the form and structure of this epic, for I am not an English major. Read more
Published on Sep 19 2003 by Travis S. Lowe
5.0 out of 5 stars Apt reading for America today
Perhaps one of the first anti-war works of literature, the Iliad stands as relevant for our world today as it has been for the Greeks of 3000 years ago. Read more
Published on Sep 1 2003 by Giant Panda
5.0 out of 5 stars A return to the origins!
It's difficult not to give 5 stars to "The Iliad" of Homer. I must admit it was not an easy reading, mainly because I've read a version in verse. Read more
Published on April 21 2003 by G. Alfonsi
5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Translation
I am happy to see that this translation of The Iliad of Homer has remained in print. My copy is over 25 years old and I still regard it as my favorite. Mr. Read more
Published on Mar 25 2003 by D. A Wend
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Translation
So, everyone knows the story of the Iliad. We're all familiar with the Greeks and the Trojans and the horse and lines written about it with regard to "Who is he to... Read more
Published on Jan 15 2003 by Andrew Kraebel
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