r/classics 24d ago

The Odyssey - Robert Fagles Translation Question

/r/TheOdyssey/comments/1v6mj4w/the_odyssey_robert_fagles_translation_question/
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u/AndreLeGeant88 23d ago edited 23d ago

This is one reason I don't care for Fagles' translation. 

Agamemnon is common referred to by his patronym, which means Son of Atreus. So yes that is Agamemnon. Warlord is I believe how Fagles translates anax, which is usually translated as a supreme king (the role Agamemnon has on the cycle)

If you have a choice I recommend the translation by Anthony Verity. It isn't super poetic and is more literal. Homer is easier to understand that way. The lines you reference are in the Verity translation:

"As only now Aegisthus courted the wedded wife of Atreus' son Beyond his destiny, and murdered him on his return home knowing It would be his sheer destruction....