Homer · Ancient Greek · c. 8th century BCE
The Iliad
Every English Iliad is a different poem. The choice that matters is whose voice tells you about the rage of Achilles for twenty-four books, and then which printing of that translation to buy.
- Translations compared
- 9
- Editions in print
- 15
- Verse
- 8
- Prose
- 1
The short answer
Emily Wilson
Fast, clear, contemporary verse, with maps, notes and a glossary.
Wanting the grand, familiar one
Robert Fagles
Muscular and dramatic, with Bernard Knox's introduction and notes.
Richmond Lattimore
The classroom standard for seventy years, line by line with the Greek, now with Richard Martin's notes, maps and glossary.
Peter Green
Line for line, in a long line that echoes Homer's hexameter, with a synopsis of every book and a glossary.
E. V. Rieu
Prose that reads like a novel, revised by Peter Jones, who also wrote the notes.
Not quite it? Compare all 9 translations ↓
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| Translator | Form | Literal to free | Voice | In the book | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily Wilson | Iambic pentameter | Plain, quick, contemporary | Introduction, maps, book-by-book summaries and notes, genealogies, glossary with pronunciation | ||
| Robert Fagles | Loose five- and six-beat verse, longer than the Greek | Muscular, dramatic, expansive | Introduction and notes by Bernard Knox | ||
| Richmond Lattimore | Six-beat line, following the Greek line by line | Formal, stately, sometimes stiff | Introduction and line-by-line notes by Richard Martin, maps, glossary of names, bibliography | ||
| Peter Green | Long line echoing the hexameter | Scholarly, exact, unhurried | Introduction, synopsis of each book, glossary, notes, bibliography | ||
| Caroline Alexander | Free verse, line for line with the Greek | Direct, unadorned, close to the Greek | Not yet checked | ||
| Stanley Lombardo | Short free-verse lines | Colloquial, spare, made to be spoken | Introduction by Sheila Murnaghan | ||
| Robert Fitzgerald | Flexible blank verse | Lyrical, inventive, Greek name spellings | Foreword by Andrew Ford | ||
| E. V. Rieu | Prose | Reads like a novel | Introduction and notes by Peter Jones | ||
| Stephen Mitchell | Free verse. Cuts hundreds of lines as later additions and moves Book 10 to the back | Brisk, modern, pared down | Introduction, notes on the Greek text, map, pronouncing glossary |
No translation matches this filter.
The first line, four ways
The same opening in each voice. Older translations are quoted in full; modern ones appear as short excerpts once the publisher grants permission.
Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.
Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!
Wilson's opening lines will appear here once the publisher grants permission.
Fagles's opening lines will appear here once the publisher grants permission.
Wilson's translation, in four books
Once you have chosen a translator, these are the printings of that text worth buying.
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Hardcover
The gift edition, illustrated by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, in cloth with gilded edges and a slipcase.