Richmond Lattimore's translation of the *Iliad* is known for its closer alignment with the original Greek text and its commitment to maintaining the formal structure and tone of epic poetry. His version often uses more direct and straightforward language, as seen in the opening of Book 1, where he calls upon the goddess to sing of Achilles’ anger and its devastating effects. Lattimore emphasizes the harsh realities of war and heroism with clear imagery, as in Book 6, comparing human generations to leaves: they scatter and regrow, emphasizing the cycle of life and death. This approach aims to capture the gravity and grandeur of the original text without embellishments, reflecting the stark and unembellished reality of ancient Greek storytelling. In contrast, Alexander Pope's translation of the *Iliad* employs a more ornate and stylized language, typical of 18th-century poetic traditions, using rhyming couplets to add a musical quality to the verses. Pope's translation of Book 1 also focuses on Achilles' wrath, but his choice of wording, such as "direful spring" and "Pluto’s gloomy reign," creates a more dramatic and intense atmosphere. In Book 6, Pope similarly employs vivid imagery to describe the transient lifecycle of humanity, but with a rhythm that lends a more lyrical and reflective tone. His translation seeks to balance fidelity to the original text with an elegance and polish that would appeal to contemporary readers of his time, enhancing the tragic heroism and human drama pervasive throughout the epic.
Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus
and its devastation, which puts pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,
hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls
of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting
of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished
since that time when first there stood in division of conflict
Atreus' son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus.
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurled to Pluto's gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!