Both translations are in verse, but they handle line length and register very differently. Alexander keeps lines long and relatively close to Homer's own expansive sweep, opening with the isolated word "Wrath" before the first line unfolds. Reck compresses: "Men are like the generations of leaves" becomes "Men are like the generations of leaves: / wind spins them to the ground." That line is shorter and tighter. In the Ares passage, Alexander gives "this madman, created for evil, double-faced," which is formal without being archaic. Reck gives "that crook, that lunatic, that renegade," which is plainly colloquial. Alexander's diction stays in an elevated but accessible register throughout. Reck's drops into contemporary speech when characters argue or insult each other. Alexander's translation follows the Greek closely in sequence and detail, preserving, for instance, the full two-fate speech in Book 9 with its symmetrical structure intact. Reck adds "decent obscurity" where the Greek says only that glory will be lost, a small interpretive choice that makes the trade-off more vivid but moves away from the original's plainness. Alexander's approach produces a text useful for readers who want to follow the Greek's movement closely. Reck's produces a text that reads fast and sounds natural when read aloud, particularly in dialogue. The gain in immediacy in Reck comes with some loss of the original's weight. Alexander's closeness to the Greek occasionally produces slightly awkward English phrasing, as in "declaiming aloud pledged" in the Ares passage.
Wrath—sing, goddess, of the ruinous wrath of Peleus' son Achilles,
that inflicted woes without number upon the Achaeans,
hurled forth to Hades many strong souls of warriors
and rendered their bodies prey for the dogs,
for all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished;
sing from when they two first stood in conflict—
Atreus' son, lord of men, and godlike Achilles.
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' maniac rage:
ruinous thing! it roused a thousand sorrows
and hurled many souls of mighty warriors
to Hades, made their bodies food for dogs
and carrion birds—as Zeus's will foredoomed—
from the time relentless strife came between
Atreus' son, a king, and brave Achilles.