#I am concurrantly still reading two different translations of Journey to the West side by side

[thaylepo]

I enjoy the Penguin Classics series, because they tend to be annotated! I have annotated translations of the Iliad and Odyssey from them packed away in storage with the rest of my library, but I'd have to look up the publishing info to see what translation it actually is.

Annotation is great and can provide additional cultural and historical context as well as further insight into the text and the translator's choices.... when it's done that way. That's definitely my preferred way. It does slow down the actual reading of the book, but you get a lot more out of it. There are abridged versions of Homer, if you're looking for readability on your first run through. You'll get the story and all the important players but with a lot of the more difficult, dry, endless-ship-and-king-list type stuff abreviated. Just be aware you'll be missing a great deal of context, but you'll still get a decent idea of the story.

As always, no translation is ever going to be one-to-one, which is why annotation is super handy. You can usually find reviews both pro and con for every translation, and doing research on what other translators and experts in the field have to say about it.

For the purposes of reading the book, you at least want to look for a translator that shows their hand in the annotations. Ie., is willing to say "this passage is usually translated as 'x' but here I've chosen to use 'y', because of the following reason:". Then you may agree or disagree, but you are informed of both options. This tends towards newer publications over older ones, and sometimes the annotation is being done on an older translation by a different person, so it's always good to know the context of what you're reading. And hey! If you end up reading multiple annotated translations of the same text to get further context..... congrats you are in the club. (The club of people. Who do this. Like me.)

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Reading The illiad for Greek and Roman history class. At some point I went to add it to my personal collection as well as the Odyssey. Any recommendations for particular versions?

Unfortunately, I am not a Classicist and have never actually read the Iliad or the Odyssey (although my parents did drive a red one for much of my childhood).

@door-into-summer, @wafflelovingbatgirl, other folks with a Classics background, what are your opinions?

-Reid