Courses

When it comes to reading classic works by the ancient Greeks and Romans, we rely almost entirely upon translations. Consequently, we depend upon the skills and subjective decisions of the translators for accuracy and authenticity. But what makes one translation better than another?

In this course, we will take a close look at the art of translation by focusing on one of the most frequently translated poems in the Western canon, Homer’s Iliad. Richmond Lattimore’s 1951 translation will serve as our reference text, because his version is not only elegant but also comes very close to approximating a line-by-line equivalence to the ancient Greek. Our survey will include excerpts from some of the most famous pre-20th-century translators: George Chapman (a contemporary of William Shakespeare), Alexander Pope (early 18th century), and W. E. Gladstone (who trained as a classicist before going on to become one of Britain’s most renowned prime ministers of the 19th century). We will also examine representatives from the most recent generation of translations, as we consider what inspires classicists to continue to produce newer versions of the Iliad. Students need not be familiar with the Iliad to take this course. The only requirement is a curiosity about the magic of translation, without which so much of Greek and Roman literature would be lost to a great many.