The first decision that needs to be made when teaching or studying the Odyssey is exactly which translation to use. It is necessary to carefully consider the balance between readability and accuracy that will best suit the reader.
Possibly the most readable translation on the market is the verse translation of Robert Fagles, published by Penguin Classics. Contemporary idiom is consistently favoured, and Fagles’ verse possesses a dynamic, driving rhythm that draws the reader into the poem. However, Fagles’ preoccupation with creating a readable and entertaining English rendering of the text leads him to obscure many of the repetitive stock phrases and epithets that mark out the Odyssey as oral poetry. Therefore, while I would recommend Fagles’ translation to those reading the Odyssey for pleasure, it is not entirely suitable for those studying it at AS-level.
Most of what I have said about Fagles is also applicable to Fitzgerald’s translation. Again, it is written in English verse, and sacrifices accuracy in the interests of readability. While its literary merits are many, I personally find it rather less readable than Fagles’ translation. The same goes for Pope’s translation.
Lattimore is by far the most accurate of all verse translators of the Odyssey, and many would argue that his translation is an even better representation of Homer’s Greek than the best prose translations. However, it is not overly readable, and the English is dated in places.
The translation officially recommended by OCR, and the source of any passages set for comment within their papers, is the prose translation of E.V. Rieu, revised by D.C.H. Rieu. This, while less engaging than Fagles, and not quite as close to the Greek as Lattimore, is nonetheless both readable and tolerably accurate.
One further option is the Loeb translation of Murray, revised by Dimock. While dated, and not particularly readable, this translation is extremely accurate. I would recommend it to any readers who have a little Greek (even if only to GCSE level), since the provision of the Greek text facing the English allows the reader to pick up on stock phrases, and on the use of important terms, such as ‘dike,’ that a translation, however faithful, may obscure.
