zlacker

>>agomez+(OP)
As always I think your best move if you want to read a work with many translations available is simply to read the first 2-3 pages (or some other short identical segment) and see which one feels best to you. I have read several and I value them all for different reasons.

I love Pope but wouldn't read him for an "accurate" translation (he didn't know Greek!) and I like Butler's prose but it's a total transliteration, not poetry. My go-to recommendation is Lattimore (not Fagles, which I found dull), but now we have Emily Wilson in the mix too (with a great preface to boot).

Taste them all and go with whichever is best for you - you can always read another later, but your first time for a classic should be enjoyable and natural. Only you can say which one you enjoy most.

>>devind+VF
My, I get the impression that 'translations' are far more like a work of art in their own right, than, er, a translation!

>>verisi+BX
This certainly is the case! Translation is a creative process, not merely transformative, let alone mechanical. Especially with classics, where much interpretation is needed. The very first line of the Odyssey is a perfect example - the word used to describe Odysseus famously has no direct translation, so everyone puts their own spin on it.

Reading the amount of thought that goes into a translation is always interesting to me - for instance the introduction to a Sir Gawain and the Green Knight I have really helped me understand how the alliterative style worked and why the translation was done in a certain way (and why it was so hard).