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An understanding of ancient Greek is not essential for interpreting the Iliad or Odyssey, unless you plan to contribute to the scholarly discourse on these poems. Greek is a beautiful language, though, and I do encourage its study.

Before you tackle Greek, however, there are easier things you can do to get a fuller understanding of the Homeric texts. For starters, read about oral composition and the way that these poems were passed down for generations without being written down. You might look at Lord and Parry's seminal work, The Singer of Tales, or any number of books and articles by Gregory Nagy. Some of the "faults" of the poems, such as excessive repetition, become much easier to understand and appreciate within the context of oral composition. You might also read a brief overview of Greek history, which can put the poems in their historical place. For instance, they were already quite old by the time of Socrates, Pericles, and Euripides.

Another very important issue is which translation of the poems you will read. Go to a bookstore and compare them directly. Don't rely only on book reviews, since the best way to see if you like a translator's style is to read part of his or her translation. It's very important to find a translation you like, since it will color your appreciation of the poems. Some translations are very literal and "epic-sounding" - Lattimore's comes to mind - while others are perhaps less true to the Greek text but are generally more readable. Some translations might offer additional features, such as extensive notes and maps, but this information can be found online quite easily and shouldn't sway you from an edition you really like.

Lastly, here's some advice if you do dare to study the ancient Greek language in order to read these poems. First of all, make sure you learn the Homeric dialect rather than, for example, Attic or Biblical Greek. (It's easy enough to switch to another dialect after you've learned one, so don't let this deter you from taking a class in Attic Greek, but you might as well focus on Homeric if you're teaching yourself.) You will also want to use a Homeric lexicon rather than the more common Liddell and Scott lexicon. The Loeb Classical Library texts, which are small green books published by Harvard, are useful editions of the texts because they present the Greek on one side of the page and a translation on the other. Be sure to get the most recent Loebs, though, or the translation will be from the early 1900s. And finally, the Perseus Project website is an excellent resource that contains many Greek and Latin texts and allows users to click on words for their definitions. This greatly reduces the amount of time necessary to translate.

Have fun reading the Iliad and Odyssey, whether or not you're looking at the Greek!

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