Lattimore writes in long, loose hexameter lines that try to match the weight of the Greek line by line. His diction draws on an elevated, slightly archaic register: "hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls / of heroes" keeps the Greek word order and stacks nouns in a way that feels formal and slow-moving. Reck works in shorter, tighter lines with a contemporary register. Where Lattimore gives "that double-faced liar," Reck gives "that double-crosser," a word from ordinary speech. In the Book 9 passage, Lattimore writes "the excellence of my glory is gone," preserving the formal Greek idiom, while Reck writes "live in decent obscurity," a phrase with no ancient echo at all. The two translations sound like they are aimed at different reading speeds. Lattimore was trained as a classicist and kept close to the Greek syntax, sometimes at the cost of natural English word order. His version rewards readers who want to feel the structure of the original. Reck cuts toward readability and oral delivery. In the Book 21 killing scene, Lattimore's "Yet even I have also my death and my strong destiny" carries the Greek's balanced phrasing; Reck's "but I am doomed to die as well as you" removes that balance and reads faster. Lattimore's fidelity sometimes produces awkward English. Reck's clarity sometimes removes the formal weight that the scene carries in the Greek. A reader who wants the texture of the original kept intact will find more of it in Lattimore; a reader who wants clean, immediate English will find more of it in Reck.
Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus
and its devastation, which puts pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,
hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls
of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting
of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished
since that time when first there stood in division of conflict
Atreus' son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus.
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.