Both translations are in verse, but their line lengths and registers differ clearly. Wilson writes in a relatively even, conversational English, keeping sentences close to natural speech patterns. In the opening lines she gives "which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain," a plain declarative that moves without ceremony. Reck's opening, "Sing, Goddess, Achilles' maniac rage," puts the verb first and reaches for a harder, more compressed energy. In the leaves passage (Book 6), Wilson spreads the image across several lines with clause breaks that slow the reader down, while Reck compacts the same material into four tight lines. Wilson's dialogue tends toward the direct ("So die, my friend"), where Reck's often sounds slightly more heightened ("Yes, my friend, you perish too, why whimper?"). Neither translator uses archaic diction, but Reck's word choices carry more edge. Wilson keeps close to the Greek sequence of ideas and adds little. In the Book 9 passage, she follows Achilles' two-fate speech line by line, preserving "a name that lasts forever" as a near-literal rendering of the Greek "kleos aphthiton." Reck in the same passage chooses "decent obscurity" for the return-home option, a phrase with no direct equivalent in the Greek, trading fidelity for a sharper characterization of what Achilles stands to lose. In the Athena passage (Book 5), Wilson names Ares "violent, and aggressive, and insane," while Reck calls him "that crook, that lunatic, that renegade," words that push the register toward spoken force. Wilson's approach gives readers a clearer path to the Greek's structure; Reck's gives the speeches more rhetorical punch.
Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath
of great Achilles, son of Peleus,
which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain
and sent so many noble souls of heroes
to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs,
a banquet for the birds, and so the plan
of Zeus unfolded—starting with the conflict
between great Agamemnon, lord of men,
and glorious 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.