OHOHO! Of course! >:3 If I have the links, I'll try and put them here too!
Most are the same in many ways (same story so makes sense lol) and most I'd say are just personal choices. Also I sadly only have English Translations.
Also, Headsup: Get mad and angry at me if you want, but I've never read a single introduction of these. I really wanted to like, gather what I could on my OWN to get my own opinions and thoughts together from reading the text. So maybe while I like the translation, maybe the introduction does not match. I mean I'm pretty sure Rieu, a translation that is "fun" for me during certain moments, pities and feels bad for Calypso and Circe :/ (idk of that for sure as, like I said, I don't read the introductions. Idk if I wanna because if they make me mad then yeh >:( )
Also that they all have different "styles" ofc, so as someone who likes flowery and poetics, you may not want that.
Also some will have mixed things in general lol. Some favor and/or gloss over Circe and Calypso's moments in ways I don't care for. Some are "meh" for most of it but then it'll have one of the prettiest wording for a certain moment later on. Mixed bag tbh :)
Rieu is one I've read as well (I actually have a lil tiny travel Odyssey book that's his translation!) And I really love it! I think it's really fun and while some things are a bit glossed, it's still super fun! It does favor Circe and Calypso a bit but it also favors Penelope a lot too!
Robert Fagles is probably one I'd very much recommend. It's poetic and "pretty" AND I think it's nice for first time readers! Along with Stanley Lombardo's. In many ways, they have "Soft approaches" with the language they use to convey descriptions that I love while still keeping to the story.
I love Ian Johnston's a lot as well! As his is probably the most "simplified" while still keeping to the story in many ways! :D This one is another for first time readers!
A.S. Kline is very idk, to the point? At least it feels that way to me. (It's okay) Same with Samual Butler's. I think his is technically the most "accurate" by like, prose wise? but he uses the ROMAN names which can throw you off a lot.
Robert Fitzgeralds' IS super fun. I like it enough. It's "style" is a bit more "stoic" I'd say??? but some lines are such fucking bangers oooooooo
Alexander Pope's is...a LOT. With the rhyming and just EVERYTHING. So I definitely do not recommend for first time readers BUT some of the visuals are fun :D
I just got a translation of the Iliad AND Odyssey by W.H.D. Rouse and it's... fine? It's good enough :) fine language I suppose but I like others more.
Personally, I do not care for Emily Wilson. I hate how she writes as she waters down a lot of stuff and is VERY biased to the point where she changes the story. Her work is praised for simplifying the Odyssey for readers but in a way, that's just...taking out a lot of the FLAVOR of the work you know?😂 There's such beautiful poetry going on. The Odyssey is MEANT to be spoken and heard. To water it down makes me a bit sad.
And she's very biased. In a way, FORCING you to interpret the way she does. Maybe for a first time read just to get the summary of it but she takes a lot of lil things and changes the language used to make things sound worse or better than it is depending on who she likes more. ("He Lied", "He, a man of many Councils, said" for example. Liar is different from a storyteller especially as he HAS to lie to survive.)
If you want a fun and weird retelling that's basically a mini novel, I recommend Barbara Leonie Picard's retelling. It's just the Odyssey but as a novel basically.
BUT these are just my opinions! Read whichever translation you'd like and more! I highly recommend reading multiple (probably at least 3) as like I said, there are some biases that may change the story but reading multiple may clear things up! I tried to get links with these translations as best I could! :D Happy reading!
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