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1 Chapter 1 : The Iliad by Homer: Rendered Into English Prose by Samuel Butler (Paperback) Book Discussi the iliad of homer rendered into english prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. by. samuel butler. figure 1 the burning of troy (ca. ) by johann georg trautmann. Mar 01, Dustin rated it it was amazing Recommended to Dustin by: Heading into this, I was naturally concerned that reading The Odyssey first would be detrimental to my overall enjoyment, as The Iliad originated first. The latter taking place ten years later, it could be called a loose sequel. Feel free to read them however you choose. I was immediately, immeasurably relieved. What she did surpassed mere words. Without question, I respect the hell out of herâ a fact that grew exponentially throughout the reading. Thank you for everything, Anna. He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth, and one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden shuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there was a thick wood of alder, polar, and sweet smelling cypress trees, wherein all kinds of great birds had build their nestsâ owls, hawks, and chattering sea-crows that occupy their business in the waters. A vine loaded with grapes was trained and grew luxuriantly about the mouth of the cave; there were also four running rills of water in channels cut pretty close together, and turned hither and thither so as to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious herbage over which they flowed. Even a god could not help being charmed with such a lovely spot, so Mercury stood still and looked at it; but when he had admired it sufficiently he went inside the cave. Composed that way, the two became one, completing and complimenting each other, like a healthy marriage. Where is this going, I wondered, and how would they conjoin? They were leagues apart, figuratively and literally. At other times, they felt eerily similar-almost surrealâ but the quests were never replicated. The Odyssey surprised me countless times. And given that his version was originally published in, one would expect virtual obsoletion. I consistently marveled at its modernity. An additional surprise, which verged on shock, was the violence itself. There were several pivotal moments, where Odysseus not only resorted to violence, but fully embraced it, making violence the star. Telemachus, in his journey, did the same, but his actions were more reserved. Some of those images will likely haunt me forever, replaying repeatedly in the theater of my mind. In particular, the grisly scene when Odysseus battled one of the Cyclops, Polyhemus, was extremely revolting in its explicit nature, while never once being off-putting or any other negative connotation. Incidentally, The Iliad, for obvious reasons, was significantly bloodier. That surprised me, too. But oftentimes in ancient texts, pathos is non-existent. Love, loyalty, and fostering lasting friendships were also themes. The Odyssey was a lot of fun. There were long fought battles, kings, queens, magic; political intrigue, loyalty and honor; manipulation, betrayal, dishonor, and the contentious rancor of the gods. Life and death hang in the balance. A bygone world, one which is often forgotten. They speculate that a woman actually wrote The Odyssey, primary due to the differences in writing style between the two books. Apparently, the styles are quite different. In fairness, though, it is possible to affect an aberrant style, even a wholly differing one. However, this seems to be the exception to the norm. But assuming that such a feat was possible, that Homer did write both stories, would it genuinely impact the passion that we feel for the work? If we knew, undoubtedly, that a woman wrote it, would it change our outlook? Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : Iliad - Wikipedia For other translations see The Iliad. Originally titled The Iliad of Homer rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. The Iliad Homer Samuel Butler Once set, gods and men abide it, neither truly able nor willing to contest it. How fate is set is unknown, but it is told by the Fates and by Zeus through sending omens to seers such as Calchas. And put away in your heart this other thing that I tell you. Each accepts the outcome of his life, yet, no-one knows if the gods can alter fate. The first instance of this doubt occurs in Book XVI. Seeing Patroclus about to kill Sarpedon, his mortal son, Zeus says: Majesty, son of Kronos, what sort of thing have you spoken? Do you wish to bring back a man who is mortal, one long since doomed by his destiny, from ill-sounding death and release him? Do it, then; but not all the rest of us gods shall approve you. This motif recurs when he considers sparing Hector, whom he loves and respects. This time, it is Athene who challenges him: Father of the shining bolt, dark misted, what is this you said? But come, let us ourselves get him away from death, for fear the son of Kronos may be angered if now Achilleus kills this man. It is destined that he shall be the survivor, that the generation of Dardanos shall not die Whether or not the gods can alter fate, they do abide it, despite its countering their human allegiances; thus, the mysterious origin of fate is a power beyond the gods. Fate implies the primeval, tripartite division of the world that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades effected in deposing their father, Cronus, for its dominion. Zeus took the Air and the Sky, Poseidon the Waters, and Hades the Underworld, the land of the deadâ yet they share dominion of the Earth. Despite the earthly powers of the Olympic gods, only the Three Fates set the destiny of Man. Yet, Achilles must choose only one of the two rewards, either nostos or kleos. Either, if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans, my return home is gone, but my glory shall be everlasting; but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers, the excellence of my glory is gone, but there will be a long life left for me, and my end in death will not come to me quickly. Kleos is often given visible representation by the prizes won in battle. When Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles, he takes away a portion of the kleos he had earned. The stars conjure profound images of the place of a single man, no matter how heroic, in the perspective of the entire cosmos. Pride[ edit ] Pride drives the plot of the Iliad. The Greeks gather on the plain of Troy to wrest Helen from the Trojans. Though the majority of the Trojans would gladly return Helen to the Greeks, they defer to the pride of their prince, Alexandros, also known as Paris. Due to this slight, Achilles refuses to fight and asks his mother, Thetis, to make sure that Zeus causes the Greeks to suffer on the battlefield until Agamemnon comes to realize the harm he has done to Achilles. When in Book 9 his friends urge him to return, offering him loot and his girl, Briseis, he refuses, stuck in his vengeful pride. From epic start to epic finish, pride drives the plot. The epic takes as its thesis the anger of Achilles and the destruction it brings. Anger disturbs the distance between human beings and the gods. Uncontrolled anger destroys orderly social relationships and upsets the balance of correct actions necessary to keep the gods away from human beings. Hybris forces Paris to fight against Menelaus. The "Wrath of Achilles". King Agamemnon dishonours Chryses, the Trojan priest of Apollo, by refusing with a threat the restitution of his daughter, Chryseisâ despite the proffered ransom of "gifts beyond count". Moreover, in that meeting, Achilles accuses Agamemnon of being "greediest for gain of all men". But here is my threat to you. Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis. I shall convey her back in my own ship, with my own followers; but I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis, your prize, I myself going to your shelter, that you may learn well how much greater I am than you, and another man may shrink back from likening himself to me and contending against me. He vows to never again obey orders from Agamemnon. Aggrieved, Achilles tears his hair and dirties his face. Thetis comforts her mourning son, who tells her: So it was here that the lord of men Agamemnon angered me. Still, we will let all this be a thing of the past, and for all our sorrow beat down by force the anger deeply within us. Now I shall go, to overtake that killer of a dear life, Hektor; then I will accept my own death, at whatever time Zeus wishes to bring it about, and the other immortals. Date and textual Page 2

3 history[ edit ] Further information: Homeric question and Historicity of the Iliad Achilles being adored by princesses of Skyros, a scene from the Iliad where Odysseus Ulysses discovers him dressed as a woman and hiding among the princesses at the royal court of Skyros. Scholarly consensus mostly places it in the 8th century BC, although some favour a 7th-century date. Herodotus, having consulted the Oracle at Dodona, placed Homer and Hesiod at approximately years before his own time, which would place them at c. Homer is thus separated from his subject matter by about years, the period known as the Greek Dark Ages. Intense scholarly debate has surrounded the question of which portions of the poem preserve genuine traditions from the Mycenaean period. The Catalogue of Ships in particular has the striking feature that its geography does not portray Greece in the Iron Age, the time of Homer, but as it was before the Dorian invasion. Yet, by the s, Milman Parry â had launched a movement claiming otherwise. His investigation of the oral Homeric styleâ "stock epithets" and "reiteration" words, phrases, stanzas â established that these formulae were artifacts of oral tradition easily applied to an hexametric line. A two-word stock epithet e. They enter battle in chariots, launching javelins into the enemy formations, then dismountâ for hand-to-hand combat with yet more javelin throwing, rock throwing, and if necessary hand to hand sword and a shoulder-borne hoplon shield fighting. Ninth came Teucer, stretching his curved bow. He stood beneath the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon. Ajax would then conceal him with his shining shield. On the bright ridges of the helmets, horsehair plumes touched when warriors moved their heads. The available evidence, from the Dendra armour and the Pylos Palace paintings, indicate the Mycenaeans used two-man chariots, with a long-spear-armed principal rider, unlike the three-man Hittite chariots with short-spear-armed riders, and unlike the arrow-armed Egyptian and Assyrian two-man chariots. Nestor spearheads his troops with chariots; he advises them: That will hurt our charge. This overall depiction of war runs contrary to many other[ citation needed ] ancient Greek depictions, where war is an aspiration for greater glory. Influence on classical Greek warfare[ edit ] While the Homeric poems the Iliad in particular were not necessarily revered scripture of the ancient Greeks, they were most certainly seen as guides that were important to the intellectual understanding of any educated Greek citizen. This is evidenced by the fact that in the late fifth century BC, "it was the sign of a man of standing to be able to recite the Iliad and Odyssey by heart. In particular, the effect of epic literature can be broken down into three categories: In order to discern these effects, it is necessary to take a look at a few examples from each of these categories. Much of the detailed fighting in the Iliad is done by the heroes in an orderly, one-on-one fashion. Much like the Odyssey, there is even a set ritual which must be observed in each of these conflicts. For example, a major hero may encounter a lesser hero from the opposing side, in which case the minor hero is introduced, threats may be exchanged, and then the minor hero is slain. The victor often strips the body of its armor and military accoutrements. Therefore they called him Simoeisios; but he could not render again the care of his dear parents; he was short-lived, beaten down beneath the spear of high-hearted Ajax, who struck him as he first came forward beside the nipple of the right breast, and the bronze spearhead drove clean through the shoulder. While there are discussions of soldiers arrayed in semblances of the phalanx throughout the Iliad, the focus of the poem on the heroic fighting, as mentioned above, would seem to contradict the tactics of the phalanx. However, the phalanx did have its heroic aspects. This replaces the singular heroic competition found in the Iliad. In this battle of champions, only two men are left standing for the Argives and one for the Spartans. Othryades, the remaining Spartan, goes back to stand in his formation with mortal wounds while the remaining two Argives go back to Argos to report their victory. Thus, the Spartans claimed this as a victory, as their last man displayed the ultimate feat of bravery by maintaining his position in the phalanx. The Iliad expresses a definite disdain for tactical trickery, when Hector says, before he challenges the great Ajax: I know how to storm my way into the struggle of flying horses; I know how to tread the measures on the grim floor of the war god. Yet great as you are I would not strike you by stealth, watching for my chance, but openly, so, if perhaps I might hit you. For example, there are multiple passages in the Iliad with commanders such as Agamemnon or Nestor discussing the arraying of troops so as to gain an advantage. This is even later referred to by Homer in the Odyssey. The connection, in this case, between guileful tactics Page 3

4 of the Greeks in the Iliad and those of the later Greeks is not a difficult one to find. Spartan commanders, often seen as the pinnacle of Greek military prowess, were known for their tactical trickery, and, for them, this was a feat to be desired in a commander. Indeed, this type of leadership was the standard advice of Greek tactical writers. Trojan War in popular culture The Iliad was a standard work of great importance already in Classical Greece and remained so throughout the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods. Subjects from the Trojan War were a favourite among ancient Greek dramatists. Homer also came to be of great influence in European culture with the resurgence of interest in Greek antiquity during the Renaissance, and it remains the first and most influential work of the Western canon. In its full form the text made its return to Italy and Western Europe beginning in the 15th century, primarily through translations into Latin and the vernacular languages. Prior to this reintroduction, however, a shortened Latin version of the poem, known as the Ilias Latina, was very widely studied and read as a basic school text. The West tended to view Homer as unreliable as they believed they possessed much more down to earth and realistic eyewitness accounts of the Trojan War written by Dares and Dictys Cretensis. Page 4

5 Chapter 3 : The Odyssey Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original by Paperback - The Iliad of Homer: Rendered Into English Prose for the Use of Those Who Cannot Read the Original () Audio CD - The Iliad Paperback - The Iliad of Homer: With an Introduction and Notes. His answer was, that in the first place the Latin must be idiomatic, in the second it must flow, and in the third it must keep as near as it could to the English from which it was being translated. I said, "Then you hold that if either the Latin or the English must perforce give place, it is the English that should yield rather than the Latin? The genius of the language into which a translation is being made is the first thing to be considered; if the original was readable, the translation must be so also, or however good it may be as a construe, it is not a translation. We know the charm of the Elizabethan translations, but he who would attempt one that shall vie with these must eschew all Elizabethanisms that are not good Victorianisms also. For the charm of the Elizabethans does not lie in their Elizabethanisms; these are but as the mosses and lichens which Time will grow upon our Victorian literature as surely as he has grown them upon the Elizabethanâ upon such of it, at least, as has not been jerry-built. No doubt; but he will have no hands stamp it save his own; he will rot an artificial ruin, but he will not glorify it; if he is to hallow any work it must be frankly secular when he deigns to take it in handâ by this I mean honestly after the manner of its own age and country. The Elizabethans probably knew this too well to know that they knew it, but whether they knew it or no they did not lard a crib with Chaucerisms and think that they were translating. They aimed fearlessly and without taint of affectation at making a dead author living to a generation other than his own. To do this they transfused their blood into his cold veins, and quickened him with their own livingness. Then the life is theirs not his? In part no doubt it is so; but if they have loved him well enough, his life will have entered into them and possessed them. They will have given him of their life, and he will have paid them in their own coin. If, however, the mouth of the ox who treads out the corn may not be muzzled, and if there is to be a certain give and take between a dead author and his translator, it follows that a translator should be allowed greater liberty when the work he is translating belongs to an age and country widely remote from his own. Poem and audience are as ego and non-ego; they blend into one another. Change either, and some corresponding change, spiritual rather than literal, will be necessary in the other, if the original harmony between them is to be preserved. Happily in the cases both of the Iliad and the Odyssey we can see clearly enough that the audiences did not differ so widely from ourselves as we might expect after an interval of some three thousand years. But they differ, especially in the case of the Iliad, and the difference necessitates a greater amount of freedom on the part of a translator than would be tolerable if it did not exist. Freedom of another kind is further involved in the initial liberty of rendering in prose a work that was composed in verse. Prose differs from verse much as singing from speaking or dancing from walking, and what is right in the one is often wrong in the other. Prose, for example, does not permit that iteration of epithet and title, sometimes due merely to the requirements of metre, and sometimes otiose, which abounds in the Iliad without in any way disfiguring it. We look, indeed, for the iteration and enjoy it. We are never weary of being told that Juno is white-armed, Minerva grey-eyed, and Agamemnon king of men; but had Homer written in prose he would not have told us these things so often. Therefore, though frequently allowing common form epithets and titles to recur, I have not less frequently suppressed them. Lest, however, the reader should imagine that I have departed from the letter of the Iliad more than I have, I will give the first fifty lines or so of the best prose translation that has yet been madeâ I mean that of Messrs. Leaf, Lang, and Myers, to which throughout my work I have been greatly indebted. Often have they saved me from error, and rarely have I found occasion to differ from them as to the meaning of a passage. I do not believe that I have translated a single paragraph without reference to them, but this said, a comparison of their opening paragraphs with my own will show the kind of way in which I differ from them as to the manner in which Homer should be translated. Their translation here, by Dr. Who then among the gods set the twain at strife and variance? Even the son of Leto and of Zeus; for he in anger at the king sent a sore plague upon the Page 5

6 host, that the folk began to perish, because Atreides had done dishonour to Chryses the priest. And her will I not set free; nay, ere that shall old age come on her in our house, in Argos, far from her native land, where she shall ply the loom and serve my couch. But depart, provoke me not, that thou mayest the rather go in peace. Then went that aged man apart and prayed aloud to King Apollo, whom Leto of the fair locks bare, "Hear me, god of the silver bow, that standest over Chryse and holy Killa, and rulest Tenedos with might, O Smintheus! If ever I built a temple gracious in thine eyes, or if ever I burnt to thee fat flesh of thighs of bulls or goats, fulfil thou this my desire; let the Danaans pay by thine arrows for my tears. And the arrows clanged upon his shoulders in his wrath, as the god moved; and he descended like to night. Then he sate him aloof from the ships, and let an arrow fly; and there was heard a dread clanging of the silver bow. First did he assail the mules and fleet dogs, but afterward, aiming at the men his piercing dart, he smote; and the pyres of the dead burnt continually in multitude. I have given the foregoing extract with less compunction, by reason of the reflection, ever present with me, that not a few readersâ nor these the least culturedâ will prefer Dr. Throughout my work I have taken the same kind of liberties as those that the reader will readily detect if he compares Dr. But I do not believe that I have anywhere taken greater ones. The difference between us in the prayer of Chryses, where Dr. I very readily admit that Dr. Leaf has in the main kept more closely to the words of Homer, but I believe him to have lost more of the spirit of the original through his abandonment no doubt deliberate of all attempt at stately, and at the same time easy, musical, flow of language, than he has gained in adherence to the letterâ to which, after all, neither he nor any man can adhere. These last words may suggest that I claim graces which Dr. Leaf has not attained. I can make no such claim. All I claim is to have done my best towards making the less sanguinary parts of the Iliad interesting to English readers. The more sanguinary parts cannot be made interesting; indeed I doubt whether they can ever have been so, or even been intended to be so, to a highly cultivated audience. They had to be written, and they were written; but it is clear that Homer often wrote them with impatience, and that actual warfare was as distasteful to him as it was foreign to his experience. Happily there is much less fighting in the Iliad than people generally think. One word more and I have done. I have burdened my translation with as few notes as possible, intending to reserve what I have to say about the Iliad generally for another work to be undertaken when my complete translation of the Odyssey has been printed. Lastly, the reception of my recent book, " The Authoress of the Odyssey," has convinced me that the general reader much prefers the Latinised names of gods and heroes to those which it has of late years been attempted to popularise: I have no hesitation, therefore, in adhering to the nomenclature to which Pope, Mr. Gladstone, and Lord Derby have long since familiarised the public. Chapter 4 : The Iliad of Homer - Free ebook Online The Iliad of Homer: Rendered into English Prose for the Use of Those Who Cannot Read the Original: By Samuel Butler: Book V: The exploits of Diomed, who. Chapter 5 : The Iliad (Butler) - Wikisource, the free online library The Iliad of Homer: rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original / by Samuel Butler. Chapter 6 : The Iliad of Homer (Butler) - Wikisource, the free online library It is still the translation to choose if one is looking for Homer rendered into modern English prose, especially now that the text has been revised by Rieu's son, D. C. H. Rieu, and Peter Jones (). Chapter 7 : the iliad ebay Page 6

7 RENDERED INTO ENGLISH PROSE FOR THE USE OF THOSE WHO CANNOT READ THE ORIGINAL The Head Master of one of our foremost public schools told me not long since, that he had been asked what canons he thought it most essential to observe in translating from English into Latin. His answer was, that in the. Chapter 8 : [COMPLETE] The Iliad - Trans into English Blank Verse - law - LibriVox Forum The Iliad Rendered into English Prose by Samuel Butler First published The Dunyazad Digital Library theinnatdunvilla.com The Dunyazad Digital Library (named in honor of Shahrazad's sister) is based in. Chapter 9 : KidVidUK: Barney Toys: The Iliad of Homer Rendered Into English Prose Full text of "The Iliad of Homer: rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original" See other formats. Page 7