Literary Analysis Of The Iliad - 1050 Words

The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic that depicts the conflicts of the Trojan War. Throughout the story, many smaller arguments take place between the characters of the epic. Like all stories, The Iliad is filled with literary devices to allow the readers to garner a better understanding of the motivations of each character throughout encounters. Translators have to maintain the nuances of each situation while accounting for an unavoidable skewing from the original passage. In reality, this means that translations differ. A key example of this occurring in the Illiad is during Odysseus speech attempting to rally Achilles to war. While both Fagles s and Lattimore s translations agree on Odysseus’s main points, their versions of the speech†¦show more content†¦This lessens the foreshadowing of Patroclus’s death which Odysseus was referring to. The reason for this variance is probably due to Fagles electing to preserve the undertones of the Greek passage while Latti more choose to maintain the diction of the same passage. This would explain the awkward wording of Lattimore’s passage as Greek syntax does not translate nicely into English syntax. Also, this explanation shows why the foreshadowing is stronger in Fagles’s version than Lattimore’s. This means that the Greek text probably resembles the actual text of Lattimore, but creates an atmosphere similar to what Fagles s translation gives to an English reader. In a similar vein to verb tense, each translator gives Odysseus a different point of view which creates a different mood surrounding his advice. In the passage, Fagles makes a majority of Odysseus’s speech in the second person. Lattimore, however, keeps a majority of Odysseus’s words in a third person point of view. This sparing use of the second person point of view provides contrast which helps to highlight Odysseus’s claim that Achilles has forgotten his father, Peleus’s, advice. For example, both translators end the speech in second person. Fagles has Odysseus telling Achilles that Peleus’s advice has â€Å"slipped from your mind† while Lattimore has Achilles being told that â€Å"you have forgotten† your father’s advice (9.314, 9.259). The difference, however, lies in the fact that Fagles precedesShow MoreRelatedThe Iliad: Literary Analysis1552 Words   |  7 PagesThe Iliad: Literary Analysis Throughout The Iliad, an epic poem written by Homer, there were numerous warriors and other characters that could be looked upon as heroes; some of these heroes included Achilles, Ajax, Diomedes, Hector, and Glaucus. All of these individuals were heroes because of their remarkable mental and physical strength: they were courageous and were better fighters in war than other ordinary men. 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