Reader Review:"...whether the prophecies of Calchas are true or not..."The Loeb editions of the classical Greek and Roman<BR> writers are remarkable -- both for their scholarly<BR> contents as well as for the very readable English<BR> translations which accompany the classical words.<BR> The Greek or Latin texts appear on the left side<BR> pages -- and the immediate English translations<BR> appear on the right hand side, opposite. <BR> This Loeb edition of -The Iliad- comes in 2 volumes:<BR> Vol. 1 (ISBN: 0674995791) contains Books I - 12<BR> of -The Iliad-, with an English translation by<BR> A.T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt. Vol. 2<BR> (ISBN: 0674995805) contains Books 13 - 24. This<BR> is a 2nd edition of these volumes, issued in 1999.<BR> In explaining why a revision of Murray's translation <BR> was needed, Wyatt says in the "Preface": "A.T. <BR> Murray's translation of the -Iliad- has long set<BR> a standard for accuracy and style. But its archaic<BR> language no longer seems as appropriate as it did <BR> to earlier generations of readers. In revising it to<BR> fit the expectations of today's readers I have changed<BR> little substantively, but have modernized diction<BR> throughout." And Wyatt is true to his word -- the<BR> revised translation reads easily, but still gives<BR> the flavor of Homer's poetic style through repeated<BR> introductory formulas such as: "Then in answer to<BR> him spoke Achilles, swift of foot" and "Then the<BR> incomparable seer took heart, and spoke, saying...".<BR> Also included are the wondrous Homeric similes<BR> with the full force of their acute observations,<BR> poetic flow, and telling imagery. Here is an<BR> example describing the spread of the Achaeans<BR> throughout the camp: "Just as a consuming fire makes<BR> a boundless forest blaze on the peaks of a mountain,<BR> and from afar can the glare be seen, so from their<BR> magnificent bronze, as they marched out, went the<BR> dazzling gleam through the sky to the heavens."<BR> Included in Vol. 1 is an Introduction as well as<BR> an updated short Bibliography of critical text<BR> citations, Editions and commentaries, Recent <BR> translations, Reference, Linguistic, General<BR> works on Homer, and Studies on the Iliad.<BR> And as Achilles says after he has slain Hector,<BR>"There lies by the ships a dead man unwept, unburied --<BR>Patroclus; him will I not forget so long as I am<BR>among the living, and my knees are quick. And even <BR>if in the house of Hades men forget their dead, yet<BR>will I even there remember my dear comrade."<BR> -- Robert Kilgore. (Rating: 5)