Herbert Jordan's 2008 translation uses a strict iambic pentameter line, matching the Greek line-for-line where he can. The diction is plain and modern without being slangy: "a frenzied two-faced pest since he was born" for Ares, or Achilles' blunt "So you die too, my friend, but why complain?" Jordan trims Homer's formulaic epithets and patronymics to keep the meter clean. In the famous leaves simile, nine Greek lines compress into four English ones, and Glaucus' geographic preamble is cut entirely. That economy is the main trade-off: readers lose some of the repetition and ornament that make Homer feel oral, but gain a brisk, readable pentameter that moves quickly. This version suits a reader who wants steady English verse and clear sense over fidelity to every Homeric phrase.
Sing, goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles' anger,
ruinous, that caused the Greeks untold ordeals,
consigned to Hades countless valiant souls,
heroes, and left their bodies prey for dogs
or feast for vultures. Zeus's will was done
from when those two first quarreled and split apart,
the king, Agamemnon, and matchless Achilles.