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Andrew_Jay

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Rook

E.V. Rieu did the original translation for the Penquin Classics, D.C.H. Rieu later revised it. It's pretty much what people would probably read in the UK, although I don't think that quite makes it definitive. He did do the Illiad as well, so I guess for me it made sense to stick with the same translator as that's what you're expecting.

Scrivener

Back when I was in college (a long time ago), the Fitzgerald translation was considered to be the best available. The Fagle translation might have supplanted it for all I know--I've heard good things.

Why don't you try browsing through each at a large bookseller and compare passages to find a style you prefer?

supabeast

If you really want to get into it, you could always read multiple translations and write an academic paper comparing them

Szechuanosaurus

I'm reading Rieu's translation of the Iliad just now and it's pretty good. But then I'm no classics buff. So it's probably terrible if I'm enjoying it so much.

TheFallenLord

I found the Fagles translations to be the most readable, personally. I borrowed my buddys copy of The Odessey, which lead me to hunt down a copy of The Illiad.

I had tried to read a different translation a few years before that, and couldn't get in to it. I felt Fagles was sort of a compromise between straight prose and verse. I generally find verse very hard to read, but I was able to enjoy Fagles Odessey and Illiad.