Stanley Lombardo vs Robert Fitzgerald Iliad Translation Comparison

Years: 1997 and 1974

Lombardo's translation of the Iliad reads more straightforwardly while Fitzgerald's translation is more poetic and lyrical.

Passage comparison

Stanley Lombardo

Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark,
And left their bodies to rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.

Robert Fitzgerald

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.

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