The Odyssey– Part One

So when it dawned on me that the only form of the original Greek classics, the Odyssey and the Iliad I had read was in the Classics Illustrated comic books when I was quite young, and the only spoof I read was Mad Magazine’s hilarious ‘The Oddity and the Idiot’ dealing with both classics, it occurred to me that it was high time to read the original in English translation (before Christopher Nolan’s movie emerges in early July), and so I initially chose the classic Penguin edition that E.V. Rieu had done beginning in the 1930s and then revised by his son.  Now this reads quite well as a narrative, but it is clearly not in epic poetry form.  Here’s what Wikipedia says about such translations.

“The Odyssey is indeed in poetic form in its original Greek. The use of parataxis, the absence of indirect speech, and a mixture of formal and colloquial language are key stylistic features that contribute to its poetic nature. The poem’s structure, while observing consistency in meter, does not have a strict rhyme scheme, which is characteristic of most epic poetry. The English translations often maintain the poetic form of the original Greek, but this is not always the case, especially when the translations are not based on the original Greek text.” 

When Wiki is asked why the Rieu translation is not in poetic form, the answer given is:  ‘Rieu’s translation is incredibly approachable for first-time readers. The prose is smooth and engaging, making it easy to get lost in Odysseus’ journey.”

O.K. but reading Rieu, which is a well written narrative does not give the sense of an epic poem in any language, and certainly not in English.  for instance it’s not like Milton’s Paradise Lost.  So….. I decided to both read Rieu for content, and read  Stanley Lombardo which conveys the poetic form of the original.  Stay tuned for more…..