Customer Reviews

Iliad, Volume II: Iliad: Volume II. Books 13-24 (Loeb Classical Library)

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The Loeb series is meant to aid students, which is why its translations often read very literally. When Murray writes, "The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles," he is following the word order of the Greek exactly: "Mênin aeide, thea, Pêlêiadeô Achilêos." If you buy this book for the Greek text, the literal English translation will help as a quick reference when stuck on a word. If you buy this book for the English translation, you'll gain a sense of the logic of the Greek language and a much more reliable translation than most.

The Loeb editions of the classical Greek and Roman
writers are remarkable -- both for their scholarly
contents as well as for the very readable English
translations which accompany the classical words.
The Greek or Latin texts appear on the left side
pages -- and the immediate English translations
appear on the right hand side, opposite.
This Loeb edition of -The Iliad- comes in 2 volumes:
Vol. 1 (ISBN: 0674995791) contains Books I - 12
of -The Iliad-, with an English translation by
A.T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt. Vol. 2
(ISBN: 0674995805) contains Books 13 - 24. This
is a 2nd edition of these volumes, issued in 1999.
In explaining why a revision of Murray's translation
was needed, Wyatt says in the "Preface": "A.T.
Murray's translation of the -Iliad- has long set
a standard for accuracy and style. But its archaic
language no longer seems as appropriate as it did
to earlier generations of readers. In revising it to
fit the expectations of today's readers I have changed
little substantively, but have modernized diction
throughout." And Wyatt is true to his word -- the
revised translation reads easily, but still gives
the flavor of Homer's poetic style through repeated
introductory formulas such as: "Then in answer to
him spoke Achilles, swift of foot" and "Then the
incomparable seer took heart, and spoke, saying...".
Also included are the wondrous Homeric similes
with the full force of their acute observations,
poetic flow, and telling imagery. Here is an
example describing the spread of the Achaeans
throughout the camp: "Just as a consuming fire makes
a boundless forest blaze on the peaks of a mountain,
and from afar can the glare be seen, so from their
magnificent bronze, as they marched out, went the
dazzling gleam through the sky to the heavens."
Included in Vol. 1 is an Introduction as well as
an updated short Bibliography of critical text
citations, Editions and commentaries, Recent
translations, Reference, Linguistic, General
works on Homer, and Studies on the Iliad.
And as Achilles says after he has slain Hector,
"There lies by the ships a dead man unwept, unburied --
Patroclus; him will I not forget so long as I am
among the living, and my knees are quick. And even
if in the house of Hades men forget their dead, yet
will I even there remember my dear comrade."
-- Robert Kilgore.

Homer, The Iliad, Loeb Classical Library Nos. 170 & 171, translated by A.T. Murray (1924), revised by William F. Wyatt (1999). ISBNs 0674995791 and 0674995805.

The Loeb books are small, as the dimensions on the Amazon product page will show you, and they're all hardcover. All volumes have the original Latin or Greek text on the left and an English translation on the right. Greek Loebs are bound in green and Latin volumes in red. Many Loeb volumes were originally issued in the early part of the twentieth century (the series was started in 1911) and so those which have not been updated can sound stilted to modern ears. A.T. Murray's Loeb translation of the Iliad was published in 1924. The professor of classics at Brown University, William F. Wyatt, has updated Murray's rendering, taking out the thees and thous and adding a few notes to Murray's already very helpful annotations.

I first read the Iliad in Butler's translation. I decided to read it again, and chose the Loeb version for the series' translations, which as mentioned above, tend toward the literal side of things to help students who are reading the Greek text and using the translation as a "crib." Of course, the Iliad really is "Greek" to me, and so the translation is the only useful thing to me in the Loeb edition. But the translation is well worth the forty bucks or so it costs for both volumes. The sentences can get a bit long and involved, but nothing worse than you'll find in older English literature, and I know enough about Greek to know it has long sentences. So from someone who knows no Greek, take it for what it's worth.

As for the Iliad itself: it might take a bit of getting used to for the modern reader, should he be unused to anything outside of his own century. Every time a warrior dies, it's "and over him his armor clanged," or "and his knees were loosed," or another formula phrase. Characters most likely have a descriptive handle: "Odysseus of many wiles," "ox-eyed queenly Hera," "swift-footed Achilles." But I quickly got the point where I was enjoying the formulas and not resenting them. Battle scenes are rather graphic: we're told exactly where the spearpointed entered and where it came out, and exactly which body parts fell out in the process; although a lot of us moderns brought up on Hollywood gore won't mind that.

So should you read the Iliad? If you do, you put yourself in company with Aeschylus, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Milton, Johnson, our Founding Fathers, Tolstoy, and J.R.R. Tolkien, just to name a few. So do yourself a favor and give it a try.

I suppose whether you will like this version of the Iliad comes down to if you prefer a poetic or prose version. If you prefer the poetic translations, this book is not for you. On the other hand, I have found this to be my favorite to read (Butler's is good if you can find one with Greek god names as opposed to Roman), and it is a prose version. I have 7 or 8 of the various translations, and this is the one I come back to just to read for pleasure. And, it being a Loeb, it has the Greek on the left, so if you are feeling adventurous you can work on your language skills.

All-in-all a fine version of the Iliad.

I own both volume 1 and 2 of Loeb's Iliad. They are handy study tools. The books have Greek on the left and the English on the right. They're also both hardback and portable. However, the English translation is from the early 20th century. As far as translations go, it is not very modern. I've heard that Harvard Press plans to revise their Loeb series with modern translations, but I have yet to see this done for Homer. If the Greek is what is important-they're great. But if you also value the English translation-hold out for the newer publications

Wyatt's revision of Murray's classic translation updates the English text. The accuracy of the translation of the Greek in the line by line fashion characteristic of the Loeb classics is invaluable to those interested in reading at least parts of Homer in classical Greek.

What are we reviewing here? Homer's work? The translation? The Greek text? The format of Loeb? I'll try to hit them all.
Homer's Iliad is as good as anything ever written in any language. Like just a few other authors--Shakespeare, Goethe, maybe Dante, Homer is a genius on the level of poetry, drama, and ideas. Enough said.
The difference between reading Homer in Greek and reading him in English is the difference between chicken salad and chicken s--t. ALL translations betray Homer terribly and of course this is not one of the best. But I assume most people who buy this book buy if for the Greek, but also want a diglot. I am aware of no other diglot available for the entire Iliad, and probably you could not much improve on this except to make the font bigger. Loeb should make their texts larger, not thicker but larger, so the font would be easier to read. The font of this revison is in fact even smaller than the earlier editions. But of course the texts are portable and affordable, so you can't have everything. In a diglot the translation has value only as a crib, and Murray's is great because it is very literal. What I like most about it (again, as a crib to aid the Greek, NOT as good literature, which it is not) is that Murray follows the Greek word order whenever possible. And yet it is very important to get this revision by Wyatt, because he for the most eliminates Murray's arcane language.
The other thing I like about the Loebs is that there is space around the text to annotate it by jotting down the vocab words you look up.
One final note. All my reviews are written from the perspective of New Testament Greek. The vocabulary of Homer is maddeningly extensive and does not overlap with the NT all that well. The forms are very different. The syntax is easy but for that reason will not help you with your NT syntax as much as other Greek texts. Value for NT Greek is NOT a good reason to read Homer in Greek. The only good reason to read Homer in Greek is that his Greek is wonderful in its own right, better than anything you will find anywhere. The first is still the best.

This review does not deal with the translation issue. I don't know Ancient Greek so can't really say which the best version is. I used the Penguin and Loeb Classical Library editions (in two books) and found them both equally good. The English from the Loeb was perhaps slightly more formal than the freer flowing prose in the Penguin.

But if you haven't read the Iliad, and aren't too fussed about which version is truer to the Greek or more `poetic', then your main concern must be if it is worth your time (and money) to invest in this epic.

At first I did not appreciate the constant "and his armor clanged over him" which became so repetitious that I began to hear the clanging myself. The relaying of messages, verbatim, was also something that I had to get used to. But after these initial misgivings, I came to enjoy the story. It became engaging and I ended up being attached (if that is possible) to some of the heroes in the novel. I felt for Hector as he tried to protect his city from the devastation that would come about should the Argives gain the upper hand.

The battle scenes were very descriptive. Homer certainly made sure his audience knew exactly what happened, whether the spear punctured the right eye, went in through the kidney or split the head in half. You are even given short biographies of some unknown warrior as he is about to die. Perhaps this is of interest to those studying Homer or Greek literature, but to the average reader it might seem a bit much. I mean, do we really need to know the genealogy of everyone that was involved in the battle? Again, that is something you will have to get used to, as the book progresses.

Even, if you know the story or have seen the recently released Troy, I would suggest you experience the Iliad. Yes, you don't read the Iliad as much as you experience it. I was taken back into a completely foreign culture in a completely different time and yet I found that I could relate to Hector, to Menelaus, to Agamemnon, and yes, even to that braggart Achilles. We should be thankful that Homer's Iliad was preserved so that we, in the 21st century are able to enjoy this masterpiece.

I cannot recommend this book enough, there are some things that at first will seem strange to you, but persevere, because when you are nearing the end of this book, and indeed after you have finished it, you will wish it was longer. Trust me. Read this book.

I got this to help with my intermediate Greek course; we're reading the first book of the Iliad and other selections. I found that it simply collects dust on my shelf next to all my other Loebs (which I have used much more). If you want something to help you study, I recommend the Lattimore translation of the Iliad. It's line-for-line and nearly completely accurate. The antiquated language of the Loeb and its approximate translation make Homer confusing and inaccessible. However, it is useful because if I read a passage from the Loeb, it forces me to realize what is wrong with it, so in a backwards way I have a better understanding of Homer because I know what is wrong with the Loeb and why the Lattimore is closer to accuracy.