Richard Whitaker's translation of the
Iliad has been more than ten years in the making. His poetic translation makes use of a flexible 5-beat line, usually ten or eleven syllables long.
The translation uses many South African English words such as
amakhosi (commanders),
kgotla (assembly),
outspan (unyoke),
kloof (glen),
sloot (ditch),
assegai or
umkhonto (spear). For readers to whom such words may be unfamiliar, a Glossary at the end of the book explains their meaning and gives the Standard English equivalents.
Although the
Iliad of Homer: A Southern African Translation is aimed at the general reader of literature, it should be particularly useful as a text to teach from. This is because the translation has exactly the same number of lines as the Ancient Greek text, corresponding virtually line-for-line with the original. Which means that lecturers, or students with no Greek, can link commentaries on, or critical discussions of, the
Iliad directly to the relevant lines of the translation.
Price: R800.00
Edition: First edition
Published: 2012
Publishers: New Voices Publishing
ISBN: 9781920411978
Condition: Paperback in very good condition. Shelf wear around the edges of the cover. Internally very clean and tightly bound.
