The Siege of Troy
A Modern English Retelling of Homer’s Iliad by Greg Tobin
New York 2004

Sample from the Opening

SING, O GODDESS, ABOUT THE ANGER OF ACHILLES, SON OF Peleus—the anger that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield as prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus—a king of men—and the great Achilles first quarreled.
And of the gods, which was it that set them against each other? It was Apollo, the son of Zeus and Leto, for he was angry with the king and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonored Chryses, his priest. Now Chryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his precious daughter, named Chrysies, and had brought with him a great ransom. Moreover he bore in his hand the scepter of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant’s wreath, and he besought the Achaeans, but most off all, the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs.

“Sons of Atreus,” he cried, “and all other Achaeans, may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam and to reach your homes in safety. But free my daughter and accept a ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Zeus.”

Hearing this, the rest of the Achaeans were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered.

But not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. “Old man,” said he, “let me not find you loitering about our ships, nor coming around hereafter. Your scepter of the god and your wreath shall profit you nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old in my house at Argos far from her own home, buying herself with her loom and visiting my couch. So go, and do not provoke me or it shall be much the worse for you.”

The old man feared him and obeyed. He spoke not a word, but walked along the shore of the sounding sea and prayed to King Apollo, whom the lovely Leto had borne. “Hear me,” he cried, “O god of the silver bow, hear me! If I have ever decked your temple with garlands, or burned your thighbones in the fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer and let your arrows avenge these tears upon the Danaans.”

REVIEW COMMENT

Tobin’s prose translation feels as if it was put together in a hurry (perhaps to coincide with the blockbuster movie Troy—as the new title for Homer’s poem might suggest). There are frequent typographical errors (e.g., from the above passage “Chrysies” and “burned your thighbones”) and the diction is inconsistent. I don’t know why a translation which announces itself as “A Modern English Retelling” would use deliberate archaisms like “besought” or “hereafter” or “shall profit you nothing.” Dramatic moments in the dialogue are too often awkward or inert or both: “I care neither for you nor for your anger, and thus will I do: Since Phoebus Apollo is taking Chryseis from me, I shall send her with my ship and my followers, but I shall come to your tent and take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn how much stronger I am than you are, and so that others shall fear to set themselves up as equal or comparable with me.” Anyone searching for a version of the Iliad in English prose can easily find better translations that Tobin’s.

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

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