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.The Odyssey
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by: Homer

November 29, 1999
About the Odyssey itself, I can add no greater praise than that which has already been deservedly heaped onto one of humankind's greatest literary creations. This particular version is graced with an excellent introduction and notes by Bernard Knox, and what I consider to be a very good translation by Robert Fagles.

The translation style stirs up controversy, with one highly rated review here going so far as to suggest that Fagles' version is not even worthy of being called a translation. In his enlightening translator's postscript, Fagles argues that being too literal results in "too little English" and that being too literary means "too little Greek". In his attempt to create a modern English version, Fagles seeks a happy medium ... Read More:
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.Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition)
City Travel Guides > Books > Poetry
from: W. W. Norton & Company

2001-02
Over the years I've read several English renderings of Beowulf. But I don't think I've ever really appreciated the haunting beauty of the thing until reading Seamus Heaney's translation. In his introductory essay, Heaney says that he's always loved the Beowulf poet's "foursquareness about the utterance," the "undeluded quality" of his "sense of the world." In translating from the Anglo-Saxon, Heaney seeks to be loyal to this "attractively direct" style, and he succeeds admirably. He's especially good at capturing the original poem's directness while retaining its beauty in translating the compound words so beloved by the Anglo Saxons. Heaney's craft renders the dragon which slays Beowulf, for example, as "ground-burner," "cave-guard," and "sky ... Read More:
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.The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics)
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by: Geoffrey Chaucer

February 04, 2003
In order to understand English litterature and the English language, many have read, or at least tried to read, Chaucers "Canterbury Tales". I too did begin (and sort of finished) the work in Middle English, which is not as hard as one might be lead to think, but is quite labourious and painstakingly slow at times. With this version, a great compromise has been found, translating it as true to the original as possible yet in modern English. I know that every time you make a rewrite or translation, things are lost, but sometimes it is necessary, or just quite convenient. This is one of those times.

It is great fun reading the Canterbury Tales. The structure of the work makes it very accesible and easy to pick up after some time away. You could ... Read More:
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.The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Verison with an Introduction (Penguin Classics)
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by: Anonymous

December 30, 1960
It will be obvious that plagerism is not a recent phenomenon. When you are aware of Gilgamesh, the supposed wise sages of books like the Torah, Bible, what ever the Arabs call their drivel, you will realize that you have been duped as the authors of those works merely ripped-off the Greeks, Egyptians and other cultures that pre-dated them. I, for one, have no wish to perpetuate the supposed divinity of Middle-Eastern religions. I never quite got the vengeful God only to later take anger management classes and become a loving God thing! There is definitely something more to the Universe than random chance, but Mankind does not yet have a handle on that knowledge, certainly not the rediculous, violent, crimes against Humanity, Middle East.
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.The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
City Travel Guides > Books > Poetry
by: Homer

November 01, 1998
Great introduction by Bernard Knox. Very few introductions add anything important to what comes afterward, but this one is even delicious to read, the great subject matters of the Iliad are here explained in terms that reach any person who can read.

I hadn't read the Iliad since a lot younger, and I was happily surprised to see so many different aspects that I hadn't noticed before. The war-film impressions of a kid were gone, and now only the sadness of death, the rage of Achilles, no mercy to the enemies... Hector stood as my hero this time, clearly defined as the last man to stand up for true human, civilized values. The embodiment of civilization, the last bastion of a soon to die culture of life.

It really sounded to me as a warning ... Read More:
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.The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation
City Travel Guides > Books > Poetry
by: Homer

November 05, 1998
Well, I'm not a Greek or Classics major. The writing program I work for assigns this edition. Now, although with a work of this bulk I feel bad complaining, but I am sure that several Greek scholars will feel much unease with Fitzgerald's translation. Why? Because it is almost too readable. A vast abyss of history opens between us and Greek Antiquity, but if you read this translation, you want to slap Odysseus on the shoulder and have a glass of wine with him. I am torn, because I love the emotional responsiveness F. creates in me, but the student of Old English is sceptical of whether this approach is really a good idea. The obvious bonus is that (disinterested) students will complain less about their assigned reading, and teaching will mean less "what he is saying here is..." ... Read More:
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.The Aeneid
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by: Virgil

June 16, 1990
Fitzgerald's version of the Aeneid is literature in its own right. Readable without being sing-songy, classic without being stilted, this translation kept me hooked on the Aeneas story long after high school Latin class ended at Book 6, and it stirred my imagination to such an extent that I got the impudent idea to emulate him in The Laviniad: An Epic Poem.

And as for the poem itself, this seminal work of Western literature deeply inspired everyone from Augustine to Dante, but unfortunately seems to be passing out of academic consciousness. Vergil's Aeneid is the very pinnacle of Ancient Roman literature, a classic story of piety, duty, and honor as opposed to immediate gratification and selfish interest. It represents the very best ideals that ancient Rome had to offer. ... Read More:
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.The Odyssey (Penguin Classics)
City Travel Guides > Books > Poetry
by: Homer

October 31, 2006
(I'm not sure why amazon has over half of these reviews for Fagels's translation on Rieu's page? I noticed this happening quite a bit on amazon, but anyway...)

I have spent quite a bit of time comparing versions of "The Odyssey", and out of all of them I settled on Rieu's pioneering translation.

It was originally published in 1946 as Penguin's very first book!

He would recite "The Odyssey" from the original Greek to his wife and children during the second world war in London while bombs dropped around them. It was Rieu's wish to start a publishing company that dealt with reviving the classics for common man. Penguin Classics is now the most widely loved, read and utilized editions on the market! What a vision he had!

This edition of The ... Read More:
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.The Iliad of Homer
City Travel Guides > Books > Poetry
by: Homer

June 01, 1961
Having been a very lazy student in high school, I'm sure I was assigned to read the Iliad or Odyssey, but never did. A recent trip to Crete, and to the ruins of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization inspired me to read Homer. Considering the comments of reviewers who read the Iliad under duress as students, I'm glad that I read it on my own account.

Why read the Iliad? For one thing, it's where Western literature begins. The Minoans had writing, but their language is undeciphered. The Mycenaean Greeks adapted the Minoan writing system, and their language has been identified as an early form of Greek, but if they ever wrote any extended works, none have been discovered. That means that Homer and Hesiod, who are generally thought to have lived in the 8th Century B.C., are the earliest ... Read More:
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.Sophocles I: Oedipus The King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone (The Complete Greek Tragedies)
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by: Sophocles

August 15, 1991
I generally do not review classics, because I find it impossible to adequately review a genuine classic with the necessary brevity. However, I plan on giving my opinion at some point on books with conflicting Amazon reviews, and it occured to me that readers ought to have a touchstone by which to assess my credibility. There are two types of books which a wide swath of readers may be presumed to have read and so may function as touchstones: popular bestsellers and classics. I made a choice from the latter category.

I note at the outset that, as my title indicates, this is *NOT* a review of Sophocles' Theban triology. It is not even a review of Antigone in its entirety. That review awaits someone with greater insight and eloquence than me to write it. I post this review on this page b/c ... Read More:
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