Stephen Mitchell's translation of the *Iliad* maintains a narrative style that emphasizes the drama and grave consequences of the events on the battlefield. His choice of words tends to inject a modern sense of immediacy and urgency into the ancient text. For example, he portrays Achilles as a figure driven by "deadly rage" that significantly impacts the course of the war, establishing the gravity of Achilles' anger from the outset. This approach helps to lay bare the raw emotions and brutal realities of war. In the interactions, such as Athena encouraging Diomedes, Mitchell uses a forthright manner to convey Athena's disdain for Ares, painting him as a "raging madman" and a "monster of violence," amplifying the goddess's frustration with divine duplicity. In contrast, Herbert Jordan's translation preserves a more classical tone and rhythm, focusing on a clear and structured delivery that aligns closely with the epic's oral traditions. Jordan's opening lines establish a more formal narrative of "Achilles' anger" as "ruinous," emphasizing the heroic and tragic consequences rather than just the character's emotions. His portrayal of interactions, like Athena interacting with Diomedes, reflects a more composed yet firm discourse, describing Ares as a "frenzied two-faced pest," which maintains the epic's dignified storytelling style. Similarly, in his depiction of the transience of human life using the metaphor of leaves, Jordan opts for a sparing but poignant expression, suggesting a philosophical musing on the continuity and cyclicality of life. Overall, Jordan's translation remains faithful to the epic's traditional and oral storytelling qualities, subtly aligning the grandeur and themes of mortality and glory central to Homer's work.
The rage of Achilles—sing it now, goddess, sing through me
the deadly rage that caused the Achaeans such grief
and hurled down to Hades the souls of so many fighters,
leaving their naked flesh to be eaten by dogs
and carrion birds, as the will of Zeus was accomplished.
Begin at the time when bitter words first divided
that king of men, Agamemnon, and godlike Achilles.
Sing, goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles' anger,
ruinous, that caused the Greeks untold ordeals,
consigned to Hades countless valiant souls,
heroes, and left their bodies prey for dogs
or feast for vultures. Zeus's will was done
from when those two first quarreled and split apart,
the king, Agamemnon, and matchless Achilles.