The Iliad of Homer
Translated into English Blank Verse
By William Cullen Bryant
Boston 1870

[Sample from the Opening of the Poem]

THE ILIAD.

BOOK I.

O GODDESS ! sing the wrath of Peleus’ son,
Achilles; sing the deadly wrath that brought
Woes numberless upon the Greeks, and swept
To Hades many a valiant soul, and gave
Their limbs a prey to dogs and birds of air,—
For so had Jove appointed,—from the time
When the two chiefs, Atrides, king of men,
And great Achilles, parted first as foes.
   Which of the gods put strife between the chiefs,
That they should thus contend? Latona’s son 
And Jove’s. Incensed against the king, he bade
A deadly pestilence appear among
The army, and the men were perishing.
For Atreus son with insult had received
Chryses the priest, who to the Grecian fleet 
Came to redeem his daughter, offering
Uncounted ransom. In his hand he bore
The fillets of Apollo, archer-god,
Upon the golden sceptre, and he sued
To all the Greeks, but chiefly to the sons 
Of Atreus, the two leaders of the host:—
   “Ye sons of Atreus, and ye other chiefs,
Well-greaved Achaians, may the gods who dwell 
Upon Olympus give you to o’erthrow 
The city of Priam, and in safety reach 
Your homes; but give me my beloved child,
And take her ransom, honoring him who sends
His arrows far, Apollo, son of Jove.”
   Then all the other Greeks, applauding, bade
Revere the priest and take the liberal gifts
He offered, but the counsel did not please
Atrides Agamemnon; he dismissed
The priest with scorn, and added threatening words:—
   “Old man, let me not find thee loitering here,
Beside the roomy ships, or coming back
Hereafter, lest the fillet thou dost bear
And sceptre of thy god protect thee not.
This maiden I release not till old age
Shall overtake her in my Argive home,
Far from her native country, where her hand
Shall throw the shuttle and shall dress my couch.
Go, chafe me not, if thou wouldst safely go.”
   He spake; the aged man in fear obeyed
The mandate, and in silence walked apart,
Along the many-sounding ocean-side, 
And fervently he prayed the monarch-god,
Apollo, golden-haired Latona’s son:—
   “Hear me, thou bearer of the silver bow,
Who guardest Chrysa, and the holy isle
Of Cilia, and art lord in Tenedos, 
O Smintheus! if I ever helped to deck
Thy glorious temple, if I ever burned
Upon thy altar the fat thighs of goats
And bullocks, grant my prayer, and let thy shafts
Avenge upon the Greeks the tears I shed.”
   So spake he supplicating, and to him
Phœbus Apollo hearkened. Down he came,
Down from the summit of the Olympian mount,
Wrathful in heart; his shoulders bore the bow
And hollow quiver; there the arrows rang
Upon the shoulders of the angry god,
As on he moved. He came as comes the night,
And, seated from the ships aloof, sent forth
An arrow ; terrible was heard the clang
Of that resplendent bow. At first he smote
The mules and the swift dogs, and then on man
He turned the deadly arrow. All around
Glared evermore the frequent funeral piles.
 
REVIEW COMMENT

Bryant makes clear that his translation seeks to be “strictly faithful” and at the same time to offer “no violence to the ordinary usages and structures of our own.”  He continues, “I have sought to attain what belongs to the original,—a fluent narrative style, which shall carry the reader forward without the impediment of unexpected inversions and capricious phrases. . . .”  This admirable goal informs the translation throughout, which is clear, fast paced, and for the most part accurate (like many others Bryant is not entirely sure about Homeric epithets). His translation lacks the sense, so common in many nineteenth-century renderings of Homer (and some modern ones), of a verse line stuffed or wrenched to meet the demands of some metrical arrangement which the translator has determined is more important than fluent, idiomatic English. Bryant’s Iliad ranks as one of the most successful and readable English renditions of Homer of the century.

Readers who would like to access the full translation of Bryant’s translation should use the following link: Bryant Iliad.
 

[List of Published English Translations of Homer]