I’m using the Thomas Clark interlinear translation of the Iliad but I’m a little worried since I read that the Cambridge Dictionary of the Greek Language which came out last year said that it has gotten rid of definitions which can no longer be defended, so I’m worried that some of those erroneous definitions are in Clark’s translation. I looked at the Loeb Library 1920 translation but it didn’t look very literal to me. I’ve looked at Kirk’s 1985 commentary but to me at least there is not enough discussion on the actual grammar. I’ve heard that Emily Wilson’s translation has about 100 page of notes on translation but I haven’t seen them. There are some other commentaries but they are only for isolated books such as Edwards 17-20, Janko 13-16, Coray book 19. Wilcock’s companion looks promising but I haven’t read it.
The Loeb is a decent literal translation. I used Clark for my first month of Greek or so, and then put him away. The Cambridge dictionary fixed some things and also introduced its own share of indefensible stuff. I wouldn’t worry about it at all. A definition is just a crutch to get you over the initial period where your brain is still accustoming itself to the language usage pattern represented by a word. If the definition isn’t perfect at first, your brain will fix it with more reading.
Cool, thanks.
The Loebs are great but they were revised maybe 20 or 30 years ago, and the revised versions are much better. Don’t get the original 100 year old Loebs.
Malcolm Willcock’s Iliad commentary is helpful and reliable, as is his Companion to the Iliad. Both from the 1970’s, which is current enough.