Andrew’s Reviews > The Iliad > Status Update

have you tried stanley lombardo's translation? that's the one i read and i really loved it. might not be the most accurate translation, but it was what i was looking for, both readable and beautifully written at the same time.

I have read the Lombardo translation, or at least as much of it as I could stomach. I've never read or heard anything in free verse that didn't sound like nails on a chalkboard. Reasonable minds can differ, but free verse abandons the foundational elements of meter and rhyme that constitute the fundamental nature of poetry, erasing the distinct boundary between poetic and prosaic expression. Without adherence to some form of structured meter or pattern, it lacks the disciplined and crafted musicality that is intrinsic to the poetic form. It simply isn't poetry.