My opinion on Homer’s Iliad is largely unchanged from my initial reading of Hammond’s after my reread in Lombardo’s translation, therefore I shall focus on the merits and hinderances of the translation itself here. I initially read ’The Iliad’ in a prose translation as that just happened to be the edition I owned so I am very glad to have now read the epic in poetic form. It is an extremely readable translation which is a positive but lacks a lot of flower and imagery that I feel the epic needs, it is stripped to its barebones in focusing on the narrative and all imagery is italicised and in separate stanzas highlighting how absent lyrical passages are. In stripping it down the poem is very Americanised, which at times is funny, noting lines such as “don’t vex me, bitch” however also can be extremely out of pocket and jarring, Zeus’ regular description as “the awesome son of Cronus” sat awfully and I absolutely hated for example. There is also frequent use of direct repetition which while effective in repeating imagery and motifs when it is a whole passage copied by a messenger word for word I did find it can be ineffective. Achilles so often pains my soul and I really felt stung in some passages. Ultimately focusing on Homer’s narrative, my rating does remain unchanged. 

I also can’t not comment on the choice of this cover - why on earth is an image of D-Day slapped on the front of ‘The Iliad’?

(As the most recent review is prioritised on the page I have copied my original review of Hammond's translation written in November 2023 below):

The difference in The Illiad and The Odyssey completely surprised me, for whilst I didn’t enjoy the Odyssey I found the tale of the Trojan War to be so much more engaging and different in style to Homer’s other epic. I read the translation by Martin Hammond, which was unusually in prose whereas still written in poetic rhythm, which may have contributed to the different experience however. Whilst I was initially worried this would hinder my experience with The Iliad, I don’t believe it read too differently and I had an experience not too far from a poetic translation in my reading of Homer’s Epic. The Illiad recounts the days of the ten year long Trojan War, highlighting Achilleus as the protagonist figure for much focus is on his involvement, and ends just before his death at the hands of Paris and therefore before the Sack of Troy and Trojan Horse. This meant much emphasis was placed on the heroics of Achilles, though Homer impressed me in his empathy for human life on both sides of the conflict amid the slaughter. Alike in Ancient Greek tradition where armies would fight over the bodies of fallen soldiers, Homer pays respect to each side in his descriptions of their strengths and lineage. There are frequent recurring descriptions, noting characters as ‘son of…’, ‘godlike’ and ‘master of the war cry’ to give the most frequent examples. Where there is an absence is in the female voices that shaped the Trojan War, the catalyst of it all Helen of Troy hardly gets a mention, and Briseis and Cassandra are rendered completely voiceless. Such absence leaves much of the motives for war untold, whereas in much of the poem focus is solely on battle and the honouring of heroics and fallen life. I cannot pretend that it wasn’t engaging throughout as a consequence of this, and whilst the Odyssey bored me a little, The Iliad did far from such and despite knowing the entire story beforehand it had me gripped.