1. Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
2. οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκεν,
3. πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
4. ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
5. οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ᾽ ἐτελείετο βουλή,
6. ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε
7. Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.

1. Achilles' banefull wrath resound, O Goddesse, that imposd
2. Infinite sorrowes on the Greekes, and many brave soules losd
3. From breasts Heroique—sent them farre, to that invisible cave
4. That no light comforts; and their lims to dogs and vultures gave.
5. To all which Jove's will gave effect; from whom first strife begunne
6. Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis' godlike Sonne.

1. Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
2. Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing!
3. That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign
4. The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
5. Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
6. Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore:
7. Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
8. Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!

1. Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilles
2. and its devastation, which put pains thousand-fold upon the Achaians,
3. hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls
4. of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting
5. of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished
6. since that time when first there stood in division of conflict
7. Atreus’ son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus.

1. Anger be now your song, immortal one,
2. Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,
3. that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
4. and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
5. leaving so many dead men—carrion
6. for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
7. Begin it when the two men first contending
8. broke with one another—
9.   the Lord Marshal
10. Agamemnon, Atreus' son, and Prince Akhilleus.

1. Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
2. murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
3. hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
4. great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
5. feasts for the dogs and birds,
6. and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
7. Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
8. Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.

1. Rage:
2.   Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
3. Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
4. Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
5. Of heroes into Hades' dark,
6. And left their bodies to rot as feasts
7. For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.
8.   Begin with the clash between Agamemnon—
9. The Greek warlord—and godlike Achilles.

1. Sing now, goddess, the wrath of Achilles the scion of Peleus,
2. ruinous rage which brought the Achaians uncounted afflictions;
3. many the powerful souls it sent to the dwelling of Hades,
4. those of the heroes, and spoil for the dogs it made of their bodies,
5. plunder for all of the birds, and the purpose of Zeus was accomplished—
6. sing from the time when first stood hostile, starting the conflict,
7. Atreus' scion, the lord of the people, and noble Achilles.

1. Sing, goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles' anger,
2. ruinous, that caused the Greeks untold ordeals,
3. consigned to Hades countless valiant souls,
4. heroes, and left their bodies prey for dogs
5. or feast for vultures. Zeus's will was done
6. from when those two first quarreled and split apart,
7. the king, Agamemnon, and matchless Achilles.

1. The rage of Achilles—sing it now, goddess, sing through me
2. the deadly rage that caused the Achaeans such grief
3. and hurled down to Hades the souls of so many fighters,
4. leaving their naked flesh to be eaten by dogs
5. and carrion birds, as the will of Zeus was accomplished.
6. Begin at the time when bitter words first divided
7. that king of men, Agamemnon, and godlike Achilles.

1. Sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles, Peleus' son,
2. the accursed anger which brought the Achaeans countless
3. agonies and hurled many mighty shades of heroes into Hades,
4. causing them to become the prey of dogs and all kinds of birds; and the plan of Zeus was fulfilled.
5. Sing from the time the two men were first divided in strife—
6. Atreus' son, lord of men, and glorious Achilles.

1. The rage sing, O goddess, of Achilles, the son of Peleus,
2. the destructive anger that brought ten-thousand pains to the
3. Achaeans and sent many brave souls of fighting men to the house
4. of Hades and made their bodies a feast for dogs
5. and all kinds of birds. For such was the will of Zeus.
6. Sing the story from the time when Agamemnon, the son
7. of Atreus, and godlike Achilles first stood apart in contention.

1. Wrath—sing, goddess, of the ruinous wrath of Peleus' son Achilles,
2. that inflicted woes without number upon the Achaeans,
3. hurled forth to Hades many strong souls of warriors
4. and rendered their bodies prey for the dogs,
5. for all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished;
6. sing from when they two first stood in conflict—
7. Atreus' son, lord of men, and godlike Achilles.

1. Wrath, goddess, sing of Achilles Peleus's son's
2. calamitous wrath, which hit the Achaians with countless ills—
3. many of the valiant souls it saw off down to Hades,
4. souls of heroes, their selves left as carrion for dogs
5. and all birds of prey, and the plan of Zeus was fulfilled—
6. from the first moment those two men parted in fury,
7. Atreus's son, king of men, and the godlike Achilles.

1. Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath
2. of great Achilles, son of Peleus,
3. which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain
4. and sent so many noble souls of heroes
5. to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs,
6. a banquet for the birds, and so the plan
7. of Zeus unfolded—starting with the conflict
8. between great Agamemnon, lord of men,
9. and glorious Achilles.

Preliminary notes. There's a famous line about Pope's Iliad: "It is a very pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer." Pope, accordingly, (and Chapman) will not be commented on.

1. The first word of the Iliad (μῆνις - wrath, rage, typically reserved to describe the wrath of the gods; for more on the divine nature of μῆνις see Leonard Mueller's The Anger of Achilles: Menis in Greek Epic) requires that the translator make a choice. The natural translation would be to begin with the second word (ἀείδω - to sing), as Lattimore, Merrill, and Verity do. Putting μῆνις first requires wrangling with English word order and repeating the word as Murray, Fitzgerald, Lombardo, Fagles, Jones, Mitchell, Powell, Alexander, and Green do. But the reason for taking on this challenge is because the Greek puts μῆνις first for a reason: μῆνις is the declared subject of the poem and its placement reflects its importance.

The last word of the first line also requires another decision from the translator: use the proper Greek names, such as Akhilleus as Fitzgerald does, or the Roman versions, such as Achilles as Murray, Lattimore, Fagles, Lombardo, Jones, Merrill, Mitchell, Verity, Powell, Alexander, and Green do.

4-5. The fourth and fifth line present a scholastic difficulty. The Greek as we have received it translates as Murray handled it: a "spoil for dogs and every bird." But Zenodotus (c. 325 BCE to 260 BCE) proposed a modification to the Greek that would translate as a "spoil for dogs and for birds a feast/banquet". Whatever the literary merits to this change, I believe the majority opinion is that the textual evidence does not justify the change. For a start on this debate, see the discussion in the New York Review of Books between Hayden Pelliccia and Peter Green in the October 12, 2017, November 23, 2017, and April 5, 2018 issues.

Nevertheless, some translations pay respect to this alteration, such as Lattimore's "delicate feasting", Lombardo and Fagles's "feasts", and Powell's "feast". Jones and Wilson adopt the alteration completely.

7. The seventh line presents an early example in which a translator's individual word choice can be examined, in part to get a sense of their translation style. Achilles in the Greek is called δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς. As an amateur student of Ancient Greek, "godlike" seems the most natural translation for δῖος (think of Latin's cognate "deus", meaning God or deity), but "brilliant", "glorious", "noble", and "matchless" are all defendable choices. Fitzgerald chooses "Prince", which has no basis in the text, and suggests that his will be a less literal translation.

25. Τὸν δ' ὃ γέρων Πρίαμος πρῶτος ἴδεν ὀφθαλμοῖσι
26. παμφαίνονθ' ὥς τ' ἀστέρ' ἐπεσσύμενον πεδίοιο,
27. ὅς ῥά τ' ὀπώρης εἶσιν, ἀρίζηλοι δέ οἱ αὐγαὶ
28. φαίνονται πολλοῖσι μετ' ἀστράσι νυκτὸς ἀμολγῷ,
29. ὅν τε κύν' Ὠρίωνος ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσι.
30. λαμπρότατος μὲν ὅ γ' ἐστί, κακὸν δέ τε σῆμα τέτυκται,
31. καί τε φέρει πολλὸν πυρετὸν δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν·
32. ὣς τοῦ χαλκὸς ἔλαμπε περὶ στήθεσσι θέοντος.

22. When aged Priam spide
23. The great Greek come, sphear'd round with beames, and show'ng as if the star
24. Surnam'd Orion's hound, that springs in Autumne and sends farre
25. His radiance through a world of starres, of all whose beames his owne
26. Cast greatest splendor, the midnight that renders them most showne
27. Then being their foile, and on their points cure-passing Fevers then
28. Come shaking downe into the joynts of miserable men—
29. As this were falne to earth, and shot along the field his raies

35. Him, as he blazing shot across the field,
36. The careful eyes of Priam first beheld.
37. Not half so dreadful rises to the sight,
38. Through the thick gloom of some tempestuous night,
39. Orion's dog (the year when autumn weighs),
40. And o'er the feebler stars exerts his rays;
41. Terrific glory! for his burning breath
42. Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.
43. So flamed his fiery mail.

30. And aging Priam was the first to see him
31. sparkling on the plain, bright as that star
32. in autumn rising, whose unclouded rays
33. shine out amid a throng of stars at dusk—
34. the one they call Orion's dog, most brilliant,
35. yes, but baleful as a sign: it brings
36. great fever to frail men. So pure and bright
37. the bronze gear blazed upon him as he ran.

31. And old King Priam was first to see him coming,
32. surging over the plain, blazing like the star
33. that rears at harvest, flaming up in its brilliance,—
34. far outshining the countless stars in the night sky,
35. that star they call Orion's Dog—brightest of all
36. but a fatal sign emblazoned on the heavens,
37. it brings such killing fever down on wretched men.
38. So the bronze flared on his chest as on he raced—

31. Priam saw him first, with his old man's eyes,
32. A single point of light on Troy's dusty plain.
33.   Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky
34.   On summer nights, star of stars,
35.   Orion's Dog they call it, brightest
36.   Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat
37.   And fevers to suffering humanity.
38. Achilles' bronze gleamed like this as he ran.

25. It was the old man Priam who noticed him first with his own eyes
26. speeding along on the flatland and glittering bright as the star that
27. comes at the season of harvest, the most outstanding of all those
28. numerous stars whose rays shine out in the gloom of the nighttime—
29. the same star to which people refer as the Dog of Orion.
30. It is the brightest of all but appears as a sign of affliction,
31. bringing with it much feverish illness for miserable mortals.
32. So on his breast as he ran shone brightly the bronze of Achilles.

25. Old Priam's eyes were first to notice the Greek
26. crossing the plain, aglitter like the star
27. that comes in late summer and gleams most bright
28. of all the thousands that dot the sultry dark,
29. the one people have named Orion's Dog,
30. the brightest star and one portending ill,
31. often followed by plagues on hapless mortals.
32. So shone the bronze on Achilles' speeding chest.

25. Then old man Priam
26. first saw him as he sped all-gleaming over the plain, like the star
27. that appears at harvest time, when its rays shine in the midst
28. of many stars in the murk of the night, the star called the dog
29. of Orion. It is most brilliant, but a sign of evil, bringing
30. much fever to wretched mortals—just so, the bronze shone
31. around Achilles' chest as he ran.

25. And old Priam first beheld him with his eyes
26. as, shining like a star, Achilles streaked across the plain,
27. the star that comes at summer's end, its clear gleaming
28. in the milky murk of night displayed among the multitude of stars—
29. the star they give the name Orion's Dog;
30. most radiant it is, but it makes an evil portent,
31. and brings great feverish heat on pitiful mortal men—
32. just so did his bronze breastplate shine about Achilles running.

25. The aged Priam was first to set eyes upon Achilles
26. as he swept on across the plain, agleam like the star
27. that rises at harvest time, and brightly its rays shine out
28. among the myriad stars in the darkness of night,
29. and men call it the Dog of Orion, the brightest star of all;
30. yet nevertheless it's a warning of trouble to come,
31. and brings with it much fever to wretched mankind:
32. so gleamed the bronze of Achilles' breast as he ran.

36. Old Prima was the first to notice him
37. sprinting across the plain. He saw the gleam,
38. just like the star that rises in late summer,
39. whose beams shine bright amid the constellations
40. at dead of night—the people call it Dog Star,
41. Orion's dog, which flashes dazzling light,
42. an evil omen bringing many fevers
43. to poor, unhappy mortals—so the bronze
44. shone on Achilles' breastplate as he sprinted.

Preliminary note.