BMCR 2009.01.15, Herbert Jordan, Homer, The Iliad

Herbert Jordan (trans.), Homer, The Iliad. Oklahoma Series in Classical
Culture; v. 35.  Norman:  University of Oklahoma Press, 2008.  Pp.
xxxii, 512.  ISBN 9780806139746.  $16.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Calum Maciver, Zurich University
([email protected])
Word count:  1285 words
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http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2009/2009-01-15.html
To comment on this review, see
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Against the classic status of Richmond Lattimore's verse translation of
the Iliad,[[1]] and the more recent, highly acclaimed verse translation
by Robert Fagles,[[2]] one might think, with some justification, that
yet another rendering of the Iliad into English verse is unwarranted.
Herbert Jordan's new translation, however, merits the praise by the
poet Henry Taylor emblazoned on the book's front cover: it is indeed 'a
splendid achievement'. This verse rendering is the product of a mature
person's desire to learn Greek (relatively late in life) in order to
read Homer in the original, the culmination of a personal journey
stemming from tragic circumstances (family bereavement). As such, and
together with the remarkably lively and poetic nature of the
translation, this work can be an inspiration to all independent late
learners as well as scholars of Greek.

The book, in addition to the translation, consists of a brief preface
by the translator, a short introduction by Christian Kopff, a useful
map of the Aegean region, some very brief explanatory notes, a
pronunciation glossary of proper names, and an index of significant
similes. While Knox's outstanding introduction to the translation of
Fagles will continue to provide the benchmark, Kopff's concise
introduction (perhaps too concise for undergraduates wishing to garner
as much as possible about the Iliad without having to look too far
elsewhere) is also informative, giving the reader some historical
background, brief excursuses on the plot, and some discussion of the
poetics, ethics, and oral inheritance of Homeric poetry, as well as an
overview of the world depicted in the Iliad. Section headings and a
brief bibliography by Kopff would be helpful too, but the lack thereof
perhaps reflects the book's intended readership -- possibly an educated
public more than professional classicists. The explanatory notes, at
eight pages in length, are slightly inadequate, but balanced by an
excellent glossary that gives short explanations of the names and
places mentioned in the epic. The index of significant (that is, long,
as opposed to short) similes is also useful.

Jordan justifies his new translation in the preface by stating that it
is the only recent version that is line-for-line, 'one line of English
blank verse for each line of the original Greek', in a line format of
five stressed syllables (p. ix). Given the strictures of such a meter
compared to the Homeric dactylic hexameter, Jordan does not translate
many words that appear in the original, such as epithets and patronyms
(pp. ix-x -- compare Fagles p. xi). We are informed that this is not a
literal translation, but rather one whose object 'is to capture the
essence of Homer's individual lines, not to render the Greek literally'
(p. ix). With this in mind, if we take, by way of example, the phrase
<greek>a)/nax a)ndrw=n *)Agame/mnwn</greek>, we find that rather than
translating this stock epithet exactly the same way every time it
appears (as indeed Lattimore does), Jordan either omits Agamemnon's
epithet, or translates variously as 'high king', 'high-commander',
'warrior-chief', 'chief warrior', 'chief Greek warrior', 'lord',
'supreme commander', 'far-ruling', 'the king', and even 'Atrides'. The
same is for all the other stock phrases in the poem. Stock expressions
such as "so he spoke" (<greek>w(/s e)/fato</greek>) are almost entirely
omitted. Whole line repetitions in the Greek appear differently in
English: for example 3.455 and 19.76 are translated respectively as
'Agamemnon spoke to his enemies' and 'next Agamemnon addressed the
assembly'.

Brief analysis of a portion of text, Iliad 3.1-9, will provide further
insight into the nature of Jordan's translation. His version runs as
follows:

After each warrior fell in behind his chief
The Trojan army marched screaming like birds--
Cranes whose shrieks rise above the sky to heaven
When they escape winter's wearisome storms,
Flying cacophonous over Ocean's streams
To where they find and slaughter Pygmy men
In vicious attacks the birds launch from the air.
The Greek forces marched quietly, breathing fury,
Each man's heart steeled to support his comrades.

The nine lines of verse here match the nine lines of hexameter in the
original. The poetic quality of the English is immediately apparent:
note, for example, the antithetical juxtaposition of 'marched' with
'screaming' (line 2), emphasising the unusualness of the Trojans'
military order in contrast to the silent awesomeness of the Achaeans in
line 8. Note also the alliteration and rhythm of 'when' with 'winter's
wearisome' in line 4. When we compare it with the Greek, however, we
discover that closeness to the original is frequently sacrificed for
poetic turn of phrase. A translation of 'screaming', 'shrieks', and
'cacophonous' (lines 2, 3 and 5), while vivid (more so than 'cries',
'cries', and 'shrieking' by Fagles) does not do justice to the
repetition of <greek>klaggh/</greek> in each of these places (Lattimore
gives the best rendering with 'clamour', 'clamour', and 'clamorously').
Jordan here reflects more naturally the sound of cranes, while
Lattimore mirrors the close correspondence between the words in the
narrative and simile. Similarly, while Jordan's 'flying cacophonous
over Ocean's streams' (line 5) certainly reads better than Lattimore's
'and clamorously wing their way to the streaming Ocean', the latter
translator reflects more accurately the sense of the preposition
<greek>e)pi/</greek> plus genitive (Fagles translates accurately and
poetically with 'Flying in force, shrieking south to the Ocean gulfs').
Again, Jordan's translation 'Each man's heart steeled to support his
comrades' at line 9 is eminently better to read than Lattimore's
painfully literal 'Stubbornly minded each in his heart to stand by the
others' (Fagles again comes out best with the graphic 'Hearts ablaze to
defend each other to the death').

Jordan's Iliad is a very easy, vivid read, and I have already
emphasised the intended audience and the aims of the translation. Taken
on these terms, Jordan's translation is highly recommended: it is
perhaps the most readable of all the verse translations of the Iliad to
date. Yet it should be stated that what we read in this translation is
not a true reflection of "Homer". A reader discovering the Iliad for
the first time in Jordan's translation would miss much of the oral
tradition that the Iliad inherently reflects. Would a reader realise
that the Greek line at 24.217 'Priam drew himself up like a god and
said' was actually built up of a series of stock expressions that
reflect the oral poetic tradition? The Greek in this case translates
literally as 'And her in turn addressed the old man Priam the godlike'.
Priam does not deliberately try to appear as a god there, but rather
'godlike' (<greek>qeoeidh/s</greek>) is a stock epithet that fills the
last four syllables of the hexameter. If a reader wants an English
Iliad closer to the original, then they would be advised to use
Lattimore (Fagles, like Jordan, is not fussy about the mechanics of
oral poetry).

A few more points: Jordan employs a more established orthography for
names than in the current trend in Classics. Achilles, Ajax, and Aeneas
are much more recognisable and easy on the eye than the pedantic
Akhilleus, Aias, and Aineias. Jordan also employs a system of paragraph
divisions in his text that again is reader-friendly, as are the page
headings for quick reference. The titles he has invented for each book
are misleading and reductive in many cases ('The Thousand Ships' for
book 2 is the worst example). On a much more minor point, we are not
informed in the introduction or preface which edition of Homer has been
followed. The absence of such information again underscores for whom
the book is intended. This is a literary creation for an educated
public, though a rendering that still tries to follow the line for line
structure of the original. Those seeking a more literal translation
should look elsewhere.[[3]]


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Notes:


1.   R. Lattimore, The Iliad of Homer, Translated with an Introduction
by Richmond Lattimore (Chicago, 1951)

2.   R. Fagles, Homer: The Iliad: Translated by Robert Fagles;
Introduction and Notes by Bernard Knox (Penguin: New York /
Harmondsworth, 1991)

3.   Thanks to Nicola Duemmler for reading an earlier draft of this
review.