Homer
Iliad
Translated by Stanley Lombardo
Indianapolis 1997

RAGE:
              Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades’ dark,
And left their bodies to rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus’ will was done.
   Begin with the clash between Agamamenon—
The Greek warlord—and godlike Achilles.

Which of the immortals set thse two
At each other’s throats?                                                              10
                                       Apollo,
Zeus’ son and Leto’s, offended
By the warlord. Agamemnon had dishonored
Chryses, Apollo’s priest, so the god
Struck the Greek camp with plague,
And the soldiers were dying of it.
                                                    Chryses
Had come to the Greek beachhead camp
Hauling a fortune for his daughter’s ransom.
Displaying Apollo’s sacral ribbons                                             20
On a golden staff, he made a formal plea
To the entire Greek army, but especially
The commanders, Atreus’ two sons:

“Sons of Atreus and Greek heroes all:
May the gods on Olympus grant you plunder
Of Priam’s city and a safe return home.
But give me my daughter back and accept
This ransom out of respect for Zeus’ son,
Lord Apollo, who deals death from afar.”

A murmur rippled through the ranks:
“Respect the priest and take the ransom.”
But Agamemnon was not pleased                                              30
And dismissed Chryses with a rough speech:

“Don’t let me ever catch you, old man, by these ships again,
Skulking around now or sneaking back later.
The god’s staff and ribbons won’t save you next time.
The girl is mine, and she’ll be an old woman in Argos

Before I let her go, working the loom in my house
And coming to my bed, far from her homeland.
Now clear out of here before you make me angry!”                  40

The old man was afraid and did as he was told.
He walked in silence along the whispering surf line,
And when he had gone some distance the priest
Prayed to Lord Apollo, son of silken-haired Leto:

“Hear me, Silverbow, Protector of Chryse,
Lord of Holy Cilla, Master of Tenedos,
And Sminthian God of Plague!
If every I’ve built a temple that pleased you
Or burnt fat thighbones of bulls and goats—
  Grant me this prayer:                                                               50
Let the Danaans pay for my tears with your arrows!”

Review Comment

Lombardo’s translation feels immediately like a breath of fresh air: the verse is energetic, colloquial, crisp, and enticing; the diction is immediately accessible to the inexperienced reader, and the flexible rhythm keeps the poem moving. Lombardo is willing to depart from a strict literal fidelity to the original Greek in order to bring the poem closer to the modern imagination and makes no attempt to inject a strained loftiness or olde worlde vocabulary into his descriptions or dialogue. One of his striking innovations—placing the Homeric similes in italics in their own paragraphs—is also an extremely effective way of emphasising the importance and impact of these (often overlooked) elements of Homer’s style.

These qualities obviously come with a price. Readers may well find the style too direct and breezy, too far removed from the more solemn and lofty gravitas they expect in an ancient poem. They may feel that the tug of war between past and present (inevitably a part of the translation of an ancient epic) has here been resolved too easily in favour of our modern times, especially in the dialogue, which makes frequent use of modern slang: “goddamn,” “pansy,” “badmouth,” and “man” as a term of address (as in the modern expression “Hey, man, . . .”).

Whether Lombardo’s bold diction amounts to what one reviewer has called a “dumbing down” of Homer’s epic or adds to the vitality and impact of the style is obviously up to the reader. In general, I like what Lombardo has done, but there are certainly moments when (reluctantly) I have to stop because some distinctively modern colloquial word or phrase has interrupted my imaginative contact with Homer’s world.

For a longer preview of Lombardo’s Iliad, please use the following link: Lombardo Iliad (Amazon)

For reviews of Lombardo’s Iliad, please use the following links: New York Times; Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews.

[List of Published English Translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey]