Rieu writes in prose, and his sentences follow the rhythms of mid-twentieth-century English fiction: clear, conversational, and occasionally colloquial. In Book 21, he adds "make such a song about it," a phrase with no equivalent in the Greek, to translate the bare imperative to stop lamenting. Alexander writes in verse, with lines that track the length and weight of the Greek hexameter. Her opening word "Wrath" sits alone, as "μῆνιν" does in Homer, while Rieu opens "Anger" and moves immediately into a full sentence. Alexander's diction is formal but not archaic: she uses "woes" and "Achaeans" where Rieu uses "sufferings" and "Greeks." The result is that Alexander's text looks and sounds like a poem on the page; Rieu's reads like a novel. Alexander's translation follows the Greek text closely in word order and content. In the Book 9 passage, she translates "κλέος ἄφθιτον" as "glory will be undying," keeping the Greek construction intact, while Rieu gives "eternal glory," a smoother phrase that loses the verbal form. Rieu regularly removes epithets and condenses repeated formulas, which makes the narrative move faster and feel more accessible to a reader unfamiliar with epic conventions. Alexander retains them, which shows more of how Homeric composition actually works. What Rieu gains is readability at pace; what he gives up is texture. Alexander's text requires more patience from a reader, but it stays closer to the decisions Homer made at the line level.
Anger — sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that accursed anger, which brought the Greeks endless sufferings and sent the mighty souls of many warriors to Hades, leaving their bodies as carrion for the dogs and a feast for the birds; and Zeus' purpose was fulfilled. It all began when Agamemnon lord of men and godlike Achilles quarrelled and parted.
Wrath—sing, goddess, of the ruinous wrath of Peleus' son Achilles,
that inflicted woes without number upon the Achaeans,
hurled forth to Hades many strong souls of warriors
and rendered their bodies prey for the dogs,
for all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished;
sing from when they two first stood in conflict—
Atreus' son, lord of men, and godlike Achilles.