# Best version/translation of Homer's Odyssey?



## modkindle (Feb 17, 2009)

I am going to start reading Homer's Odyssey on Monday. First time I have ever read it. Any recs for the best Kindle version?


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Richmond Lattimore's hands down... I wasn't always thrilled with the Kindle formatting but it wasn't horrid, but his translation is the best I've read. I did a lot of research on which one to read when I bought it last semester for my Kindle. I'm pretty sure when I first read it I read one of the horrid versions. This one was much better. It was Butler or Pope I think that you want to stay away from. I can't remember which and it could actually be both but I'm leaning toward Butler being the culprit...

... strangely the copy I have is no longer available in the Kindle store. I know the second best translation by Fitzgerald isn't available either. So if you want the best translations of The Odyssey, it looks like neither is in the Kindle store anymore. Fitzgerald was the best for quite a while, but Lattimore's more recent one is the best one out there. I'll see if I can maybe find them from other sources. The edition by Fagles is a decent third option and is available.

Edit: http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/parent-9780060931957/The-Odyssey-of-Homer-eBook.html Okay, you can get Lattimore's here in .mobi which will work just fine on your Kindle. It's $9 and you can get other translations free, but I think it's well worth the extra money for the better translation.

Edit: And... I just found the Amazon copy too and it's one of those odd "Not available to customers in the US." titles. I hope they don't try to take mine away from me! http://www.amazon.com/The-Odyssey-of-Homer-ebook/dp/B000UMN7D0


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## modkindle (Feb 17, 2009)

Thanks so much!


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

I think it is going to be a toss up between Latimore (seemlingly not available for Kindle at Amazon) and Fagles.

Ideally, you should sample each translation beforehand, as one or the other may be more to your personal tastes. The older, cheaper, or free translations could be a bit stodgy for modern readers.


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## Guillo (Mar 21, 2011)

Maybe it's a matter of region? I agree about Latimore's being the best English translation out there, and I got my Kindle copy AFTER this thread was made. But, I'm not in the States. Maybe content availability varies between regions?


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## Malweth (Oct 18, 2009)

I'm reading Fagles right now. It's good, and I searched on the same question. It's unfortunate that all translations aren't available for Kindle... the same seems to be true for many books and the public domain translations are often not good (especially for non-Latin or Germanic languages). I'd love to get the good translation of "Romance of the Three Kindgoms."

Be careful, there was one version that said Fagles, but wasn't.


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