Murray writes in prose, and his sentences follow a formal, slightly archaic register that keeps the reader at arm's length. Phrases like "thus the plan of Zeus came to fulfillment" and "neither have thou awe of furious Ares that raveth here" signal a late-Victorian scholarly English rather than anything spoken aloud. Reck writes in verse with shorter, more direct lines and a contemporary register. In the Book 21 passage, Murray gives "Patroclus also died, who was better far than thou," while Reck writes "Death took Patroclus, a far better man." Reck's line is quicker and less stiff. In Book 9, Murray's sentence runs on through subclauses, where Reck breaks the same material into cleaner units. The rhythm of each reflects its form: Murray's prose accumulates, Reck's verse stops. Murray's 1924 prose belongs to a tradition of scholarly translation aimed at readers who wanted access to the poem's content and were prepared to tolerate archaic English as a marker of classical distance. Reck's verse is aimed at a reader who wants the poem to move. In Book 6, Murray keeps the famous leaves simile at arm's length with "as it bourgeons, putteth forth others," while Reck cuts straight to "wind spins them to the ground, but the forest / brings new ones forth again." Reck gains immediacy and drops some of the original's elaboration. Murray includes more of the Greek's subordinate structure, which gives closer access to Homer's syntax at the cost of natural English. A reader who wants the poem read aloud will find Reck's lines easier. A reader who wants closer contact with the Greek's ordering of ideas will find Murray's prose more reliable.
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.
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.