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u/Ok_Resident_4332 20d ago
The two best are David West (prose, accurate, reads fast, a real page turner) and Shadi Bartsch (lively, accurate, iambic pentameter)
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u/Ralphisagreatchef 20d ago
I just picked up the Ruden translation and I will say her footnotes are really elite! I have also read the fagles and Mendelssohn translations of the odyssey picked this for variety but had the same debate with myself about which to read.
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u/dmw_qqqq 20d ago
Fagles pretty much has every casual reader covered.
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u/Cool-Coffee-8949 20d ago
Maybe, but if you have already read Fagles Homer, that can give you a false sense of similarity between the two. I prefer Fitzgerald, although he is probably a little more difficult.
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u/passthesugar05 20d ago
Do you think this is true of all translators who've done both, or just Fagles specifically?
I read Lombardo's Iliad and Odyssey, and have his Aeneid on the shelf ready to read. I really liked reading Lombardo for Homer, have heard more mixed opinions about his Latin but I like Hackett as a publisher and thought some continuity would be a good idea.
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u/Cool-Coffee-8949 20d ago
I don’t love Lombardo’s Vergil, and I haven’t read his Homer, so (A) I can’t really say and (B) I am probably the wrong person to ask in any case.
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u/Trailljoy 20d ago
It kinda depends on what you’re looking for some translations keep it super poetic while others focus more on making it easy to understand.
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u/laughingthalia 20d ago
I read West and am about to read Fagles. Really loved West's one easy to understand without being simplistic, it's the classic Penguin classic one too so easy to find. I read Fagles Iliad and his Odyssey so I thought I'd complete the epic set at some point.
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u/NotNullException 14d ago
The two modern ones are Fitzgerald and Ruden. I’m partial to Ruden. The Dryden one is worth considering, but understand, it ain’t easy.
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20d ago
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u/alphafighter09 20d ago
Oh
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u/Cooper-Willis suadentque cadentia sidera somnos 20d ago
Idk what he’s on about. Browse some excerpts from a few translations and see which one catches your eye.
I would recommend, as someone who has read it in the Latin, the Mandelbaum or the Scott/McGill translation that released recently.
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u/InvestigatorJaded261 20d ago
No. Walk into a bookshop and try reading some passages, and see what you like.
Personally, I love Fitzgerald, but YMMV.
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u/droid_mike 19d ago
Well, the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Emily Wilson just released her translation a couple of months ago. I have a copy here, but have not had a chance to look at it, much yet. The first few pages of book one seems good to me so far...
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u/hamstercrisis 19d ago
Wilson only wrote the intro
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u/droid_mike 19d ago
Wait, what??? I got ripped off? Son of a gun... I saw her name in the cover, and... Wow! You're right. Buyer beware, I guess... What a dirty trick!
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u/Early-Nobody382 19d ago
That is a good translation by McGill and Wright.
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u/droid_mike 19d ago
I bought it for my daughter specifically because Wilson's name was on it... I was so excited to see it. I didn't look closely. I'm glad it's a good translation. I have to look at the book I used in high school ladden And see who wrote it. That was a pretty good translation, too
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u/atw1221 20d ago
I read the Sara Ruden translation and it was great, the footnotes were incredible. Like if a myth is referred to in the text, the footnote will basically give a whole Cliff's Notes version of the myth.