I recently have been considering reading the whole Iliad (or Odyssey) in AG. I’ve taken necessary steps so that my Greek be on a decent level, and I’ve read Il 6,22 Steadman. In preparing for this odyssey, I am bombarded with secondary literature and debates over editions and methods. I scavenged previous posts here for tips and made due note of them.
It seems to me that many here have read the epics of Homer before and more than likely have re-read them since these posts. Also, new editions and materials have come out. My questions are
What materials would you choose for a beginner Homer enthusiast? What sorts of Commentaries, Critical Editions, Secondary Literature?
How would go about it? Do you make notes on a notebook of new vocabulary for review, or just quickly look it up and continue with the reading experience? Do you re-read books once you finish them? What other helpful advice would you have?
How do You enjoy Homer? What do you see in it that you would point out to a beginner?
Most important (and this has been hard won knowledge for me): Emphasize the ictus as you read. Say it louder, but you should be able to clap a steady beat to it as you go.
However you do it…get to where you can read a section and then translate it aloud to someone else, ideally a kid, as you read. Mentally note words that you have to guess on or fudge, and review them later, but try not to dwell on them too much. You don’t want to lose the kid’s interest.
I don’t know how you learn Greek and read books. I learn and read ancient Greek as a normal living language. Therefore, for reading Homer, I would get:
The textbook Pharr’s “Homeric Greek” will take you from knowing no Greek through all of the Iliad book one. It might be a good place to start, just skip (or use for review) the basic chapters and move right into the part where you read the actual Iliad text.
The website that goes with the most recent edition of the book has a lot of resources that you might be find useful even if you don’t use the book at all.
A new commentary on book 1 has just been released in the Cambridge green and yellow series. I haven’t used it, but have read most of the introduction, which is excellent.
Others here have recommended that beginners should start with Pulleyn’s commentary on book 1. It certainly has its strong points, but I found it a bit uneven.
I find that the more work I do to learn vocabulary before attempting to read something, the more enjoyable the experience of reading is in the end. Others will take a different approach. I highly recommend this website which offers vocabulary by frequency per book of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as other works:
One other thought. It won’t help you with the Greek, but I’ve heard Prof. Joel Christensen speak on several podcasts about his teaching and research on Homer and I’ve always thought he had very interesting to things to say.
Might be worth a listen for some added context/things to think about as you read.
Cunliffe’s Homeric Lexicon is very helpful. It’s available online as well as in paperback.
For the Iliad, you might start with Benner’s Selections from Homer’s Iliad, which has vocabulary at the foot of the page. It’s not complete, but it will get you started. It’s an old edition, and the notes aren’t informed by the oral theory, but I think it would still be useful.
The complete Iliad annotated by Willcock and the complete Odyssey annotated by Stanford are more recent than Benner, although not wholly up to date, but they are still quite serviceable. Two paperback volumes each.
There are a number of individual books of the Iliad and the Odyssey in the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics (“Green and Yellow”) series. These are generally outstanding.
Critical editions (Greek text with no notes other than variant readings): (1) Oxford Classical Texts (100 years old); (2) van Thiel (Weidemann’s publ.; one vol. each); West (“Teubner”, now published by De Gruyter; two volumes each). There’s also a one-volume “Teubner” edition of the Odyssey (again published by De Gruyter) which has judiciously stripped-down critical notes.
Thank you all for the thoughtful replies. I’m using a Steadman of the Odyssey as a litmus test for this project. I read one for the Iliad already. Glad to see there is still wide interest in the Homeric poems. Once again, thank you all.