Selections from a Translation of Homer's Iliad Book 18

N. Austin: Homer's Iliad Book 1811 Selections from a Translation of Homer's Iliad Book 18 Norman Austin Dedication It is a pleasure for me to dedicate these selections from my translation in progress of Homer's Iliad to Erling B. Holtsmark, to honor him on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Iowa. We were in graduate school togetiier at Berkeley in those sunny days before the Free Speech Movement. I remember the times we spent as graduate students between classes in the coffeeshop in Dwinelle Hall—"shop" here is an euphemism for two rooms in the building where the Classics Department was housed, converted into something resembling a workers' canteen. There our discussions would range over our seminars, our research papers, our professors of course, and at times reach beyond our quotidian affairs to meditate on the ideas and themes presented in the works of the classical authors. As fellow graduate students we commiserated with each other as we progressed steadily, and sometimes not so steadily, on die harrowing path leading to that elevated state called doctus, a path beset by wildly unpredictable examinations and a magnum opus called die dissertation. But then, with all hurdles behind us, we both went out into the world, and were fortunate enough to be able to secure one of the best of all livelihoods—a Stipendium to study and teach the classics to generation after generation of young exploring minds. After graduate school, our venue was no longer the coffee shop in Dwinelle Hall but the lobbies of the various Hiltons across the nation, where we would encounter each other during the annual meetings of the APA. There we would renew our acquaintance and exchange whatever news we had ofour professors or ofour fellows from graduate school days, and compare notes on the state of the classics on our respective campuses. Now, as Erling Holtsmark enters into the even more elevated state of emeritus, I salute him for his successful career as a professor of the classics, and wish him good health and prosperity as he takes this opportunity to pursue the subjects dearest to his heart. 12Syllecta Classica 7 (1996) Introduction Why anotiier translation of Homer's Iliad? Can anyone seriously claim that the half dozen translations currendy in print are inadequate? My simple answer is tiiat though all the translations in print have dieir own merits, diey are not adequate for my purposes. As someone who teaches the Iliad in translation in college courses, I look for a translation that will serve me in the classroom. It should reflect, insofar as that is possible in modem English, the aspects of die Iliad diat I consider essential for classroom instruction. Given my intended audience—the contemporary American undergraduate who comes to Homer without knowing any Greek—my first criterion is accuracy. Lattimore's Iliad is certainly a valiant attempt at accuracy, but his accuracy is achieved often at the expense of clarity, and clarity is my second criteron. At 18.387 Charis, the wife of Hephaistos, invites Thetis into their home. Here is her invitation in Lattimore: But come in with me, so I may put entertainment before you. Knowing the Greek, I can understand Lattimore's "entertainment" here. Homer's term here is xeinia (neuter plural), derived from xeinos, "host or guest." The xeinia are the foods tiiat hosts serve their guests, but to call this food "entertainment" is, in my view, awkward. While it may be accurate, it lacks clarity and is, in fact, misleading. Similarly, Lattimore's translation of the shepherds' huts at line 589 as "dwelling places," while it has a Biblical ring to it, seems unnecessarily vague. At 18.582-586 die poet describes a scene on the Shield of Achilles, in which two lions are devouring an ox, while herdsmen incite their dogs to attack the lions. Here is Lattimore's rendering of die herdsmen's part in this scene (lines 583-584): as meanwhile the herdsmen were in the act of setting and urging the quick dogs on them. This is accurate but flat. What herdsmen "urges" his hounds? "Were in die act of takes us into a register in...