Chapman writes in rhymed couplets with long, galloping lines that carry an Elizabethan formality. His diction runs archaic throughout: "baneful wrath," "loos'd from breasts heroic," "that invisible cave." The register is elevated and occasionally ornate, and the rhythm demands to be read aloud, with stresses falling in a way that suits public performance. Mitchell writes in unrhymed verse with shorter, more controlled lines and a contemporary vocabulary. His Book 1 opens "The rage of Achilles, sing it now, goddess, sing through me," which is direct and immediate, where Chapman's "Achilles' baneful wrath resound, O Goddess" sounds ceremonial. In the leaves passage (Book 6), Mitchell's "Men come and go, just like the leaves in their seasons" reads plainly; Chapman's "The wind in autumn strows / The earth with old leaves" has more texture but requires more patience. Chapman was writing in 1611, and his translation reflects priorities of his era: the poem as a monument, the translator as a poet in his own right, and grandeur as a value in itself. He adds and embroiders, as in Book 21, where "Nay, seest thou not beside, / Myself, ev'n I, a fair young man, and rarely magnified" stretches the Greek considerably. Mitchell keeps close to the surface of the Greek while maintaining readable modern verse. In Book 9, his rendering of Achilles' two fates is spare and clear: "my glory will die, but my life will be long and peaceful." Chapman's version of the same moment adds editorial weight, ending with "t'were foolish pride, t'abridge my life for praise." A reader who wants the poem to feel immediate and accessible will find Mitchell easier to follow. A reader who wants a historical artifact with its own literary character will find Chapman more distinctive.
Achilles' baneful wrath resound, O Goddess, that impos'd
Infinite sorrows on the Greeks, and many brave souls loos'd
From breasts heroic; sent them far to that invisible cave
That no light comforts; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave:
To all which Jove's will gave effect; from whom first strife begun
Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis' godlike son.
The rage of Achilles—sing it now, goddess, sing through me
the deadly rage that caused the Achaeans such grief
and hurled down to Hades the souls of so many fighters,
leaving their naked flesh to be eaten by dogs
and carrion birds, as the will of Zeus was accomplished.
Begin at the time when bitter words first divided
that king of men, Agamemnon, and godlike Achilles.