Homer's Iliad in a Classical Translation

An ardent classicist, art devotee, and classical music presenter, Jeffrey M. Duban grew up in Boston, where he attended the prestigious Boston Public Latin School. He began studying Latin in the seventh grade and Greek in the tenth, followed in college by Old Testament Hebrew and Sanskrit. A graduate of Brown University, he obtained his Ph.D. in classics from The Johns Hopkins University and briefly entered university teaching. Changing course, he earned his J.D. from Fordham University and, for the next 22 years, devoted himself to defending academic freedom in college settings large and small. Upon retirement he returned to his first love, Ancient Greek, publishing The Lesbian Lyre (2016) and The Shipwreck Sea (2019). Inspirational visits to the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios, Syros, and Crete further cemented his determination to translate the Iliad classically, critically, free of colloquialisms, and truer to Homer's own idiom and elevated diction. Jeffrey's varied musical interests have also led to a collaboration with contemporary Greek-Canadian composer, Constantine Caravassilis, on his double album From Sappho's Lyre. In addition to liner notes, commentary, and translations of Sappho, the album includes "5 Duban Songs" set to Jeffrey's own poetry appearing in The Shipwreck Sea. Jeffrey and his wife, Jayne, his beloved editor and collaborator, live in New York City.

• AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPersons, Places, Regions, and RelationshipsPronunciation, Principal Characters Preface I:CommentaryIntroductionI. A Personally Taken IliadII. Homeric Language: As Rich as English Might Aspire to BecomeIII. Dactylic Hexameter: The Meter of Homer and Classical Epic (in Brief) IV. Homeric Artificiality in Translation: Rightness of Result1. Alliteration: Roots and Reason 2. Making a Translation: Freedom in Constraint3. Inflection, Particles, Dialect Forms 4. Rhetorical Artificiality 5. Alliteration: Artificiality's Case in PointII:Homer's Iliad in a Classical Translation(Each book preceded by a summary)Prologue: Mythological BackgroundBook 1 | Achilles and Agamemnon Quarrel, Achilles Withdraws from Battle, Thetis Implores Zeus to Avenge Achilles by Favoring the TrojansBook 2 | Zeus Sends Agamemnon a False Dream, Agamemnon Tests the Army, the Rowdy Thersites, the Catalogue of ShipsBook 3 | The Parties Declare a Truce, the View from the Wall, the Single Combat Between Menelaus and ParisBook 4 | The Trojans Breach the Truce, Agamemnon Marshals the Forces, the First Day of BattleBook 5 | The Battlefield Excellence (or "Aristeia") of Diomedes, His Wounding of Aphrodite and AresBook 6 | Diomedes and the Lycian Glaucus Exchange Armor in a Chivalrous Gesture, the Parting of Hector and Andromache Book 7 | The Single Combat between Hector and Ajax, the Dead are Buried, the Greeks Build a Wall to Protect Their Encampments and Ships Book 8 | The Trojans Advance to the Wall and Encamp, the Greeks Beleaguered, the Second Day of Battle Book 9 | The Embassy to Achilles: Agamemnon Seeks to Reconcile Achilles with GiftsBook 10 | The Night Raid, Diomedes and Odysseus Capture and Kill the Trojan Spy Dolon Book 11 | The Savagery and Wounding of Agamemnon, Patroclus Seeks to Identify a Wounded Greek and (at Nestor's Urging) Will Seek to Impersonate Achilles, the Third Day of Battle Book 12 | Hector Storms the Barricade and Enters the Greek Camp, the Fourth Day of Battle Book 13 | Battle is Waged for the Greek Ships, Poseidon Aids the Greeks, Mayhem Reigns, Idomeneus Deters the Trojan Advance Book 14 | The Deception of Zeus: Aphrodite and the God Sleep Assist Hera in Seducing Zeus Who Then Slumbers as Hera Aids the GreeksBook 15 | Zeus Awakens and Chastises Hera, the Greeks are Repulsed to Their Ships, the Doings of Ajax, the Fifth Day of Battle Book 16 | Deeds and Deaths of Sarpedon, Cebriones, and Patroclus, the Sixth Day of BattleBook 17 | Fight for the Body of Patroclus, Deeds of Ajax and Menelaus, the Seventh Day of BattleBook 18 | Achilles' Anguish for Patroclus, Thetis and the Nereids Mourn, Hephaestus Forges New Armor for Achilles Book 19 | Achilles and Agamemnon Reconciled, Briseis RestoredBook 20 | The Gods Prepare for Battle, Achilles Returns to the PlainBook 21 | Achilles Battles the River Scamander, Hephaestus Checks the River's Advance Book 22 | The Death of Hector: Hector Dragged by the Heels Behind Achilles' Chariot Around the Walls of TroyBook 23 | The Immolation of Patroclus, the Games in His Honor Book 24 | The Ransoming of Hector's Body, the Immolation of Hector

'Duban does not believe in plainness or simplicity, in part because he sees himself as fighting against an impoverished contemporary literary culture that has simplified language for all the wrong reasons. Also, he regards self-conscious archaism as an essential feature of Homer’s epic poetry and thinks it important to remind English readers of this feature. The qualities of his Iliad translation are difficult to demonstrate succinctly. This is in part because he has created a kind of performance text that is meant to be read out loud, or recited from memory, so that the insistent rhythm of the verse appears to drive the narrative forward. To read Duban’s Iliad silently on the page is to miss this essential element of what he has tried to create. He is perhaps at his best when rendering Homeric speeches into English. In such passages his innate sense of drama shines through.This translation is a faithful attempt to replicate the Iliad as it sounds inside Duban’s head. For all its scholarly apparatus, this is a deeply personal project. Readers who persist all the way to the end will come to feel that they know Jeffrey Duban at least as well as they do Homer or his Iliad. He has put his whole self into the introduction and commentary as well as the verse, and the depth of emotion throughout seems palpable.'–  Jaspreet Singh Boparai, "Fragments Against the Ruins," Quillette