Homer
The Iliad
Translated  by Joe Sachs
Philadelphia 2008

Selection from the Opening of the Poem

Sing of wrath, goddess—the deadly wrath of Peleus’ son Achilles,
that brought sufferings by the housands down on the Achaeans and
hurled so many sturdy souls to the realm of Hades, souls of splendid
warriors, while they themselves were left for dogs and all manner of
carrion birds to feast on, as the will of Zeus went driving toward its
goal; start your song from the moment when the two first stood face
to face in open strife—Agamemnon, lord of men, and godlike Achilles.
 
And who among the gods brought those two to that fierce clash?
It was the son of Zeus and Leto who in anger at the king stirred up
a dreadful pestilence throughout the army; the men were dying off,               10
all because the son of Atreus had treated Apollo’s priest Chryses with
disrespect when he came to the swift ships of the Achaeans bringing
countless gifts as ransom to win release of his daughter, bearing in
his hands the wreaths of Apollo, the god who strikes from afar, as
signs of office on his olden staff. He made his appeal to all the
Achaeans, and especially to the sons of Atreus, the pair who led them:
“Sons of Atreus, and the rest of you Achaeans clad in head-to-foot
armor, may the gods who have their homes on Olympus grant that
you sack the city of Priam and make a safe return to your homes;
but please release my beloved child to me and accept this ransom                  20
out of reverence for the son of Zeus, Apollo who strikes from afar.”
 
Then all the rest of the Achaeans gave loud shouts of approval for
this gesture of respect to the priest and acceptance of his magnificent
ransom, but this did not please the heart of Atreus’ son Agamemnon;
he sent the man off rudely, with a heavy tongue-lashing: “Make sure
I don’t catch you again, old man, anywhere near the hollow ships;
don’t hang around here now and don’t come back here any more,
or not even your staff of office or the wreaths of the god wills save you.
I’m not going to let her go; she’ll be an old woman before that ever
happens, in my house in Argos, far from her own country, spending           30
her life going back and forth at the loom and coming to me in my bed.
Get out before you make me lose my temper, so you can go more safely.”
Those were his words, and the old man was frightened and did as
he said; he went off in silence down the beach of the booming sea.
And when he’d gone some distance off, the venerable man made his
fervent prayer to the lord Apollo, born the son of lovely-haired Leto:
“Hear me, lord of the silver bow, you who stand guard over Chrysê
and over sacred Cilla dn hold mighty sway over the isle of Tenedos;
god of the plague, if I ever crowned a shrine with boughs that were
pleasing to you, if I ever burned fat thighs-pieces of bulls or goats to           40
you in sacrifice, then make the prayer I pray you come true—let
Your arrows make the Danaans pay the price for all my tears.”

REVIEW COMMENT
 
In his preface to this translation of the Iliad, Sachs tries once again to explain the choices that have produced the distinctly odd style he has chosen for translating Homer: "Just as my translation has no aspiration to be literal, it makes no pretension to be verse. I have imitated to the best of my ability some of the prominent features of Homer’s verse. The result does not preserve his hexameters, but it retains his long line. It lacks his dactylic meter but uses any assorted rhythmic touches that came to hand to maintain his forward momentum. . . . I cannot match Homer’s poetry, but I have tried as much as possible to stay out of its way."
 
One senses here (as in Sachs’s translation of the Odyssey) certain contradictions at work: Sachs eschews trying to be poetical in order to preserve Homer’s poetry and claims he is trying to give the reader a sense of the poet’s hexameter with “any assorted rhythmic touches that came to hand” and to be faithful to Homer without being literal. Whatever the reasons the translator offers, none of which mitigates the effects of the English results, the translation is not very satisfactory, either as poetry or prose.

For a longer review of Sachs's translation, please use the following link: Open Letters.
 
For a longer preview of Sachs’ Iliad, use the following link: Sachs Iliad.

List of Published English Translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey