THE ILIAD OF HOMER Translated by Richmond Lattimore and A COMPANION TO THE ILIAD By Malcolm M. Willcock



As I shelter-in-place, I figured I’d read some of the books I’ve been putting off for some time. Richmond Lattimore’s translation of Homer’s The Iliad (1951) weighs in at 517 pages. I had the Lattimore translation on my shelves for decades and I finally decided 2020 was the year to read it and the Willcock Companion volume keyed to the Lattimore translation. What better way to spend time while the coronavirus spreads across the world? I’m also including Malcolm M. Wllcock’s useful A Companion to the Iliad (1976) with its 293 pages. Many critics consider Lattimore’s translation of The Iliad to be the best. I have read several other translations of The Iliad: Robert Fagles’s 1990 translation, Stephen Mitchell’s 2011 translation, and Alexander Pope’s Iliad (it was announced in 1713 and the final volume was published in 1720).

The point that Lattimore makes in his brilliant Introduction to The Iliad of Homer is that this is a story about Achilles (the Greeks’s best fighter), not Troy. Achilles is the star although Odysseus plays a key role in the war. Most of the action revolves around Achilles and–to a lesser extent–Hector (the Trojan’s best fighter). And, of course the Greek gods play pivotal parts in the action with their choosing sides and using their powers to manipulate the proceedings. I enjoyed Lattimore’s translation. I learned a lot about Greek and Trojan weaponry from Willcock’s companion volume. And–surprise!–the Trojan Horse is never mentioned (although it is mentioned in The Odyssey). All in all, I’m glad I finally read this classic in what might be its best translation. Have you read The Iliad? What do you think of the story? GRADE: A (FOR BOTH BOOKS)

38 thoughts on “THE ILIAD OF HOMER Translated by Richmond Lattimore and A COMPANION TO THE ILIAD By Malcolm M. Willcock

  1. Steve Oerkfitz

    Read it in college. Haven’t had any desire to read it again. You have been doing some pretty heavy reading lately., I expect to see The Remembrance of Things Past and Finnegan’s Wake next.

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    1. george Post author

      Steve, you identified two works that have defeated my attempts to read them over the years! FINNEGANS WAKE simply perplexes me. It’s too much work for too little reward to attempt to decode James Joyce’s work. I’ve made three tries to read SWANN’S WAY (the first book in THE REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST) in the past 20 years. After about 50 pages, I abandoned each attempt. If this coronavirus crisis lasts a long time, I’ll give it one more try with Lydia Davis’s acclaimed translation.

      Reply
  2. Michael Padgett

    There was a piece in the L A Times this week where ten writers (some of whom I’d actually heard of) were asked what book they’d thought about reading for years might actually get read during the current crisis. The most frequently mentioned book was “Middlemarch”, which I’ve been thinking of reading for at least 40 years. I read “The Iliad”, “The Odyssey” and “The Aeneid” in a high school course called Classical Civilizations and am really not likely to revisit them.

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    1. Jeff Meyerson

      I’m with you, Michael. I’ve gone as far as downloading MIDDLEMARCH and reading the introduction, so maybe I will get to it some day.

      THE ILIAD? Not so much.

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      1. george Post author

        Jeff, hope your trip back to NYC is going well. Diane and I have noticed that motor traffic on our street has dropped to nearly ZERO. Other than the USPS truck, the FedEx truck, and the UPS truck, nothing seems to be moving.

    2. george Post author

      Michael, I’ve read a couple translations of THE ODYSSEY and THE AENEID, too. MIDDLEMARCH is one of Deb’s favorite novels.

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      1. Jeff Meyerson

        Consider yourself fortunate that you weren’t on I-95 in South Carolina today. Canadians have to be back home by Friday night when they close the border to non-essential traffic, and approximately half of Quebec in their giant RVs, towing SUVs behind them, seemed to be on the road. It was a nightmare. I’m hoping they have continued on past where we are staying tonight.

      2. george Post author

        Jeff, crossing over the International Border to Canada will be a nightmare, too! Border Inspectors on both sides will be “screening” for the coronavirus. The delays may run into hours!

  3. Jerry House

    I remember it wasn’t a bad war story about the wrath of Achilles. The gods were kind of jerks, though.

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  4. Deb

    Read it in college—Fitzgerald translation, I believe, but I have a copy of Lattimore’s too. I like THE ODYSSEY better although, as I get older, I can see why Dante put Ulysses (Odysseus) with Judas in the 9th circle of Hell—all of his behavior is to benefit himself.

    Steve—MIDDLEMARCH is a wonderful book. I was reading it during my first pregnancy and through the first weeks of my oldest daughter’s life. In all of the pictures from the labor & delivery room, you can see the green spine of that book somewhere in the frame.

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  5. Patti Abbott

    Also read this in my first semester of college. Could I have possible read it in a week and gotten anything out of it? I remember being obsessed with Steinbeck at the time and reading him rather than assigned texts.

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    1. Jeff Meyerson

      That reminds me. When my sister was young and my youngest sister wasn’t born yet, my mother went back to college. Her favorite course was Greek Mythology, and I remember helping her by testing her on her reading. I think I read The Iliad along with her (I was in junior high school).

      Reply
  6. Dan

    What impressed me about the ILIAD was how much it resembled the rhetoric coming from Generals, some Elected Officials, and various Editorialists during the Viet Nam conflict. The Trojans are called Cowardly for defending themselves behind a wall, and at one point the soldiers are exhorted not to quit the conflict because that would mean their dead comrades died in vain.

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    1. george Post author

      Dan, the Trojans had morale problem–the Trojan War lasted for 10 years. That’s a long time to stay behind walls. But the Greeks had problems, too. Odysseus threatens to burn the Greek ships so their soldiers can’t retreat back to Greece.

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  7. maggie mason

    I have never read them, nor will I ever do so. When I look at the stacks of books I have that I really want to read (Including many PG Wodehouse, that cinches it. I also have a lot of dvd’s and a vcr at 35% – and it’s that low as there are no talk shows now, like kimmel and colbert).

    I’m sadly ill read in the classics. I remember in High School, one of my assigned books was A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins, not the usual Robbins fare. I enjoyed it. I remember trying to read (on my own, due to the movie) Dr. Zhivago, and didn’t get far. Dracula by Stoker was far more my style as well as Gone With The Wind.

    My childhood reading also didn’t have much in the way of classics (do remember Little Women and Alice in Wonderland) as I was a Big Nancy Drew fan, and still have them. I’ve gotten rid of most of the Dana Girls ones, all of the judy bolton and trixie beldens. Many of my Nancy Drews are the older, thicker ones with the white spined djs. I have a couple signed by Mildred Wirt Benson, including the one where mary mason is a villainess

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Maggie, I was a big reader of Nancy Drew mysteries in my youth. I actually preferred Nancy Drew to the Hardy Boys. I did send a batch of Trixie Beldens to Beth Fedyn when she retired. I remember those Nancy Drews with the white spiked Dust Jackets! Sadly, they’ve all been completely re-written in subsequent editions. I did give Diane’s niece (10-years-old) an audiobook of a Nancy Drew mystery. She loved it!

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      1. george Post author

        Rick, I hate the WORDPRESS spellchecker! It makes all kinds of changes without asking permission. I type spine and it changes it to spiked. Who knows why!

  8. Rick Robinson

    I have the 1950 Modern Library (Random House) edition of The Complete Works of Homer which contains The Illiad and The Odyssey. The translation is by Andrew Lang, Walter Leaf and Myers. I know it’s old, but it’s what I have and what I’ve read. I doubt I’ll reread either of the stories.

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    1. george Post author

      Rick, I’ve enjoyed the various translations of Homer that I’ve read. I have THE COMPLETE WORKS OF HOMER around here, too.

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      1. george Post author

        Rick, for some strange reason that I never understood, I was only exposed to Homer and THE ANEID in my Latin classes, not my English classes in High School. In the English classes, we did a lot of Shakespeare and–surprisingly–THE LIFE OF JOHNSON.

  9. Jeff Smith

    In junior high school or high school I discovered the “plain English” translations of Homer by WHD Rouse. I didn’t much care for The Iliad, but I loved The Odyssey, and reread it many times. I’m sure I still have those old Signet Mentor paperbacks around somewhere (along with a much-read copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology), but I don’t know where.

    I have the Fagles translations on an accessible bookshelf. I’ve looked through them, but not actually read them.

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      1. Jeff Smith

        It just occurred to me, recalling the Rouse paperback covers in my memory, that they were probably the first Leo & Diane Dillon covers I ever owned.

  10. wolf

    I remember reading those books (Iliad and Odyssee) 60 years ago while still at the Gymnasium before entering university – must have been around 17 – 18 years old. The father of a friend collected books like that in special editions on “thin paper” – others were 1001 Nights, the Adventures of Ulenspiegel, Don Quixote …
    And my favourite: King Ping Meh – now Jin Ping Mej …

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, I took a WORLD LITERATURE class my Senior Year of High School and we read many of those classics you mention. Over the years, I’ve purchased many classic books, but haven’t had time to read them…until now.

      Reply
  11. maggie mason

    jeff S I had no idea the Dillons had done a cover for the pb. I love their illustrations as well, though I also love Rackham, Erte, Michael Hague, Kai Nielsen to name just a few. Edw Gorey is the one I had a fantastic collection of thinks like the dracula scene set and wall paper Still have some beach towels by gorey sorry for being off topic

    Reply

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