Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Have you read it in the original Greek, or were you reading an English translation? If so, which one? You really need to read the Greek to fully appreciate it, but there are some excellent translations out there - the best ones are (IMHO) those by Richard Lattimore.
The Iliad and Odyssey are (together with the Bible), quite literally the "cornerstones" of western literature; they really cannot be "overhyped".
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Yes, there are some translations out there that are very hard to read, and no translation can compete with the original text (IMO). The Iliad and the Odyssey are my favourite works of Greek lit. Book 24 of the Iliad is quite possibly my favourite piece of lit overall - it get me crying every time I read it.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course. I have seen many people name many books that I wasn't fond of as their favourites. (I was never crazy about Hemingway, for example, and I felf that Byatt's "Possession" was just O.K. Sometimes things are worth another try, however; perhaps I read Hemingway and Byatt at a time when for some reason or another (exams, a flu, etc.) I couldn't enjoy them as much as I would have at some other time. Perhaps another read would have me viewing them differently.