The Iliad [Import] [Paperback]

Homer (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 471 pages
• Publisher: Wordsworth Classics; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064302997
• ISBN-13: 978-0064302999
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,076,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Reck's translation superb, March 23, 2000

By 

C. C. Swann "teacher_reader_writer" (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Iliad (Paperback)

Michael Reck's translation of The Iliad is clear, compelling, and masterful. Anyone with a passing interest in war, tragedy, Greek mythology or a good story should pick up this book. This translation has an excellent foreward that manages to be both insightful and non-academic; detailed maps of the ancient Greek world; a one-page plot summary; historical information on the "real" city of Troy; and a glossary of people and place names. Of course, the outstanding feature is Reck's rendering of Homer's language. This is no musty, archaic tome but a vibrant, forceful epic. By all means, read it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best available translation, July 12, 2010

By 

Anne Mahoney (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Iliad (Paperback)

I teach the Iliad regularly, in the original or in translation. Reck's version is far and away my favorite complete version in English. It has the pace of the original -- swift, never draggy even in the battle scenes. It is also in crisp, metrical English verse, not the "loose 5-beat lines" affected by some translators.

Although Reck sacrifices the word-for-word literalness of some other versions, his translation is accurate. A translator does not need to put the formulaic phrases (such as the epithets for names) in exactly the same places as they appear in the Greek -- because the constraints of the translator's chosen form are inevitably different from those of the original. After all, one major function of the formulae is to fill out and fit into verse lines. Insisting that we must have "Achilles swift of foot" where the Greek has po/das w)ku/s *)axilleu/s, and "god-like Achilles" where the Greek has di=os *)axilleu/s, and so on is unnecessary pedantry in a version intended for reading. (In a version with different goals this might not be so pedantic.)

What Reck gives the reader is the tone and style of the original in a way admirably suited to the English language. This is therefore the translation I assign, and I am deeply disappointed to see it is out of print.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Under Rated Translation, February 6, 2006

By 

Steven Larsen (Philadelphia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Iliad (Paperback)

I don't think that this translation has been given the respect it deserves. It could be called low-brow or simplified, suitable only for children. I think such comments spring from snobbishness. The langauge is simple, but forceful. It moves at a short, brisk pace, suitable for a war story. It is meant to be read out loud. Readability is nothing to be ashamed of either. If you doubt that, try reading Lattimore's translation of the Iliad.

I would probably choose Fagles over this translation, if I had to choose one, but I recommend taking a look at this.