About — Which Translation: The Odyssey

About This Site

This website collects a set of 20 excerpts from every complete English translation of the Odyssey. It also includes excerpts from partial translations that cover a substantial portion of the epic. While the aim is to be comprehensive, there are more caveats in these statements than may be obvious at first glance.

First is what counts as a translation. As Whitaker writes, “In the twenty-first century it has become fashionable to apply the term ‘translation’ to any sort of work recognizably based on an original. Thus one could call ‘translations of the Odyssey’ not only renderings by, say, E. V. Rieu and Richmond Lattimore, but also James Joyce’s Ulysses, Derek Walcott’s The Odyssey, A Stage Play, Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, and perhaps even Romare Bearden’s wonderful Odyssean collages.” There is also ambiguity in what makes for a complete translation, since translators often cut repeated formulae, or make omissions when translating into shorter lines. On these issues, this site basically takes the translator at their word, with works that advertise themselves as retellings (like Richard Armitage), or commentaries (like David Monro), or essays (like J. N. Scott) fully excluded, even if they may contain many literally translated passages. Partial translations that include fewer than 5 of the excerpt passages (like William Maginn or C. D. Locock) are also excluded. Finally, substantially AI-generated translations are excluded. They are released too quickly for me to reasonably find and acquire, and most are similar enough to an existing translation that they could be considered a revision.

What counts as a separate translation, as opposed to a revision, is often not clear with human translators either. Revisions that change almost every line of the original (like D. C. H. Rieu or George Dimock) are consided seperate translations, but revisions that keep large sections untouched (like later editions of Cowper or Palmer) are considered edits. Translations that crib from earlier translations but are credited differently are listed seperately. These decisions are mostly a practical matter, as finding and distinguishing specific revisions is even more difficult than finding specific translations.

An important point to note is that “features” are mostly features of a specific edition, rather than of the text itself, which may have been reprinted many times by different publishers. The features listed should be applicable to the edition marked with a star in the publication history list. For multi-volume works, the publication date listed is that of the first volume containing any content from the Odyssey. Publication information is collated from citations, library catalogs, and publisher websites, so I can’t guarantee every extant edition is listed, or that every listed edition exists.

The metrical categorization used is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. If possible, it is based on the intended meter as described by the translator in their notes or introduction, broadened to allow comparison (Stephen Mitchell, describing a pentameter line with as few iambs as possible, is listed as accentual pentameter). Reviewer consensus is used as a backup (Lattimore is listed as hexameter). Some translators (like Ian Johnston) mix multiple meters, in which case the most common meter is chosen.