Fitzgerald writes in verse; Murray writes in prose. This changes the reading experience at every level. Fitzgerald's lines have a rhythm you feel even when you are not consciously tracking it, and his diction is contemporary without being casual. In the Book 6 leaves passage, he writes "old leaves, cast on the ground by wind, young leaves / the greening forest bears when spring comes in," where the line break does work the syntax alone cannot. Murray gives you "the wind scattereth some upon the earth, but the forest, as it bourgeons, putteth forth others," which is accurate but reads like formal written English from a century ago. His "-eth" endings and words like "bourgeons" place him in a register that some readers find dignified and others find simply dated. Fitzgerald's sentences are shorter and harder; Murray's run longer, with subordinate clauses that accumulate. The two translations prioritise different things. Murray's goal is fidelity to the Greek sequence of ideas, and he rarely omits a phrase or compresses a line. In Book 9, he gives Achilles' full statement of the two fates: "lost is my home-return, but my renown shall be imperishable." Fitzgerald cuts to: "I lose all hope of home / but gain unfading glory." Both render the same idea; Murray keeps the formal balance of the Greek more visibly, while Fitzgerald removes some connective tissue to keep momentum. In Book 21, Fitzgerald's Achilles says "Come, friend, face your death, you too," which hits fast. Murray's version ("Nay, friend, do thou too die") carries the same meaning but the archaic "nay" and "thou" put distance between the reader and the scene. A reader who wants the poem to move quickly will find Fitzgerald easier to stay inside; a reader doing close study of the text will find Murray's literalness useful.
Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men—carrion
for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles, that destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs and every bird; thus the plan of Zeus came to fulfillment, from the time when first they parted in strife Atreus' son, king of men, and brilliant Achilles.