The Iliad: A Southern
African Translation
Richard Whitaker
Sample from Book 1
deadly rage that brought the Akhaians endless pain,
that hurled down to Hades many strong souls
of heroes and made their bodies meat for dogs
and vultures, fulfilling the plan of Zeus,
ever since that day those two quarreled—
inkosi Agamemnon and godlike Akhilleus.
Which god made them clash in strife? The son
of Zeus and Leto. Angry with the chief,
he drove plague on the impis—people died 10
because Atreus’ son dishonoured the priest,
Khryses. He came to the Akhaian ships
to free his daughter, offering rich ransom,
holding in his hands Apollo’s ribbons
around a golden staff, and begged the Akhaians,
above all Atreus’ two sons, their leaders:
‘Sons of Atreus, all well-greaved Akhaians,
may the Olympian gods grant that you sack
the town of Priam and come safely home.
Take this ransom and release my daughter; 20
respect Apollo the Archer, Zeus’s son.’
The other Akhaians shouted their assent:
he should respect the priest and take the splendid
ransom.
This failed to please the heart of Agamemnon;
he harshly dismissed Khryses, saying roughly:
‘Kehla, don’t let me find you hanging
around the ships, now or in the future—
the god’s staff and ribbons won’t protect you.
I will not release her—before that, she’ll grow old
in my home, in Argos, far from her native land, 30
working the loom and servicing my bed.
Go! don’t annoy me and put yourself in danger.’
He spoke. The old man trembled and obeyed . . .
REVIEW COMMENT
The following remarks are based upon only a few selections (the ones available
for preview online).
Richard Whitaker’s translation uses a number of South
African English words to provide the Southern African element in his
translation: amakhosi (commanders), kgotla (assembly), assegai (spear), and so
on. On the basis of what I have read, everything else in the poem is easily
recognizable as standard modern English. I would think that only someone to whom
this regional vocabulary is quite familiar can properly judge if it adds
anything significantly poetical to the translation. To others (like myself) the
result is inevitably rather odd, in spite of delightful new words like sloot
(ditch) and kloof (glen). I’m not sure that the invitation the language proffers
to see the Iliadic warriors as Africans makes the imaginative impact of the poem
any more vivid or intense.
The style appears clear and straightforward, although
the rhythm is not particularly impressive (at least in the samples I read). And,
as I have repeatedly said elsewhere, the merits of having a translation with
exactly the same number of lines as Homer’s text seem vastly overrated.
For
a more thorough review of Whitaker's translation please use the following links:
Bryn Mawr Classical Review;
The Free Library
(this site offers links to the
full translation).
List
of Published English Translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey