Questions? Call us
toll free:
1-800-856-3060
What Others Have Said About This Translation
"These new dramatic releases provide us once again with that powerful and direct style of translation for which Professor Johnston has become known. Students reading these translations will have no doubt of the passion and issues raised by the plays."
Princeton Professor Emerita.Elaine Fantham,
Hear NPR's review of this translator's work.
Read what professors, teachers, students and other professionals have said about Ian Johnston's translation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata and his other translations
On behalf [of our] Classics Society, I would like to request your
permission to use your translation of Aristophanes' Clouds for
our performance of the play in February. Dr Paola Ceccarelli recommend
your translation which is by far our favourite and we would be most
grateful if you would permit us to use it. I realize that it would be
something of a trek from Canada, but should you find yourself in the
country we would, of course, be delighted if you'd care to attend as our
guest of honour.
Durham, England
______
Excellent translation, easy to read, wonderful entry to epic Greek poems.
______
Hello. I'm a student at the University of Illinois - Chicago and am a big fan of your work. I strangely find myself coming back again and again to your work... leaving each time with a satisfying reading experience. As I'm sure you are acutely aware, your work has a certain pristine quality to it that other translations fall short of. The clarity of your expression (and the accuracy too) is quite remarkable.
______
My wife and I will be seeing Aristophanes' Birds next week at Stratford, Ontario, and in preparation for the event, we've been looking for a version of the play to read. We thank you for your eminently readable and entertaining comedy, in a language that would play very well on the stage these days.
______
As part of the drama minor programme, I am producing The Bacchae, and I've decided to use your translation. Having read your translation for my Greek Tragedy class, I found your version surprisingly accessible for a translation that’s so faithful to the Greek. (Fredericton)
______
Thank you so much for the translation of "The Frogs" you have made available on the web. I am going to see the play performed tonight at the ancient theatre in Argos and I'm sure I'll get a lot more out of it thanks to your efforts. I compared a few translations but yours seemed the most satisfying. The notes are very useful, too - I might have got the mythological references, and even some of the literary ones, but gay Athenians, ghost writers and crooked laundry keepers would have passed me by.
______
I want to thank you, first, for your excellent translation of
Aristophanes' Frogs. I have used it with great success in an
undergraduate course this term.
Furman University
______
I want my high school juniors to read Medea. It's the first
semester for teaching Greek Drama at a new school. I've look through
translations and I like yours best.
Nashville, Tennessee
______
I found your translation of Antigone and decided to produce it
as my thesis project for my Masters of Arts in Theatre Production. . .
I preferred the readability of your translation as well as the fact that
it did not try to make the language sound too modern (as Corrigan's
often sounds). I wanted to perform the play that Sopholces wrote which
led me away from adaptations and toward translations instead.
Ellensburg, Washington
______
Thank you for such a wonderful translation of the
Agamemnon and for making
it so accessible
(St Andrews, Scotland)
______
For my Classical Literature class,
I have made great use of your translation of Agamemnon, its considerably
easier and more understandable language helped me a lot regarding it
more correctly than the version we were given.
Ankara, Turkey
_____
I have found your very good
translation of "Agamemnon" which, if you allow me, I would like to quote
(just the first 30 verses) in my work on Clement of Alexandria.
University College, Chichester, UK
_____
I ...read "The Libation Bearers". Thanks, I really like your translation. Sometimes I think Mr. Lattimore and I are on different wavelengths :).
_____
An adult Shakespeare Group . . .
in Melbourne, Australia, of which I am the tutor, sometimes, as a break
from Shakespeare, looks at other major dramas. Last year I was very keen
that we should take on Aeschylus' "The Oresteia Trilogy" but we had
difficulty in finding a suitable translation. Our Group . . . came
across your translation...and was very taken with it. So it was... read
to great effect. A former Melbourne headmaster and also a classicist
followed the original text as we read and was full of admiration for the
translation.
Melbourne, Australia
______ I cannot tell you of the pleasure I have had reading your translation... It is clear, it is eloquent, and — most importantly — it's
exciting. The Iliad thrilled me as a schoolboy and I have eagerly absorbed each of the many
versions that have appeared down the years. Our classics teacher was a very
wise man — he knew we'd never read it at home as part of an assignment — so
he assigned us all roles in the story and we read the whole thing aloud in
class over the course of an entire school year. The class was as polarized
and confrontational being Greeks and Trojans as were the Jets and the Sharks
when Jerome Robbins rehearsed West Side Story. Of course, everyone wanted to
be Achilles and nobody wanted to be Hera, but . . . . _______ I was captivated by your
new translation of the Iliad. I am currently reading Samuel Butlers
translation, having recently discovered Greek Mythology thanks to Dan
Simmons' Sci-Fi Novels Ilium and Olympus, and even though it is extremely
engaging and fantastic to read, I instantly found that your translation
flows better and was more accessible. . . . ______ ______ Ian- your translation of The Iliad is definitely student friendly. I'm using Fagles' translation with my Grade XII Classical Studies classes and your
translation would be even better. . . . Peter
A. ______ Two summers ago, I happened upon your translation of the Iliad.
The Iliad provided a retreat, to which I eventually brought Sophocles,
Aeschylus and Ted Hughes.
The simple elegance and truth of your translation still delights me.
For what the above is all worth, I have a grade 7 English and did not attend
university. Lupita K
______
I just wanted to say thanks for putting your translation of the Iliad
on the web- I think it's excellent. ______
I'm currently a sophomore in high school, and I studied the Iliad
and
Odyssey last year as a freshman. Now, I'm a third year Latin student, and
while researching an essay on similarities between the Aeneid and Homer I
came upon your translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. Especially for the
Aeneid, the only English copies of ancient texts are translations almost as
ancient, which are hardly a help when doing research. Your translations
of the Homer, however, are easily understandable and have an excellent
poetic flow as well. I ended up liking your translations so much that I
used them instead of the other modern translations I had read last year. ______
I am a visiting assistant professor at the Washington University in St.
Louis, MO, ... I am teaching Homer this semester, and I often turn to it to
understand better the ancient text. It is a wonderfully written piece of work, and I wanted to give
you the satisfaction that your labors have benefited a colleague as well as
a new generation of young classicists. ______
Oh, I'm
very happy to find a new translation of Iliad here. What you do give me much
good inspiration. Thank you for your effort. ______ I stumbled across your translation of the Iliad... and like it very much -
and intend to use it for a class next term.
Best, ______
______
[re Iliad] I'm sure it will soon prove to be my favorite translation of
Homer's great epic. What an exciting discovery for me today! ______
I send this note simply to say thank-you for making available your
translation of the Iliad. You
translation style too keeps close enough to the Greek to allow room for
comments about the oral-derived nature of the present text. All the best,
______
______
Thank you for such a wonderful translation of the Agamemnon and for making
it so accessible
______
I am a pre-service teacher in California. As I was doing my fieldwork I came
across the Ian Johnston translation of “The Odyssey,” which I then showed to
my master teacher. He liked the translation so much that he wants to use it
exclusively in his classes. When I get my own classroom, I plan to always
use the Ian Johnson translation of any text that is available. These texts
are far superior for
the secondary classroom setting and I am so excited that I found them. I
just wanted to say thank you for making available such a useful classroom
tool.
Jaime A. ______
Excellent translation, easy to read, wonderful entry to epic Greek poems
_____
______
I really enjoy your translations and after skimming some other versions of
Homer's stories, I found that your translations were the best. I would
really like to compliment you on that. Your lectures and notes have also
been very interesting to read. I would like to express my sincere thanks for
your translation of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals. I am using it this
semester in my Introduction to Philosophy course. I find it forceful and
accurate, successfully capturing the spirit of the work, and my students
find it stimulating and interesting to read. It is wonderful that you have
made such a fine contribution to scholarship. (Rhode Island)
______
I started reading your abridged translation of the
Iliad and am impressed
with the readability - quite different than the version I remember from my
university days (1967). Thanks for the excellent work. I am staying in
Moscow, Russia, and am re-reading the classics. (Moscow)
______
______
I'll be reading Philoctetes with my class this year, and will also recommend
your Orestes. I haven't read through either translation in detail
yet, but what I've looked at is excellent: an up-to-date version that gives
people a clear sense of what the author wrote, in English a typical student
can understand and respond to. ______
I am teaching English 123 . . . . And I would like to use your translation
of Oedipus. Although I bought Moses Hadas as a text, students are finding it
difficult. I like your translation much better.
______
Dear sir: I heard your translation of Homer on NPR recently and was
impressed by the clarity and readability of your language. I am an English
teacher in Connecticut and am always trying to introduce students to more
Homer. (Waterford, CT)
______
I discovered your Iliad and Odyssey texts on line three years ago, and have
used them ever since for my grade 9 gifted students in a high school
program. . . . Like many of your other admirers, I really like your
translation. (Toronto)
______
I have read the first chapter of your translation of The Iliad on line, and
was so pleased that I will be ordering this as well your version of The
Odyssey. I have a copy of the Iliad translated by Samuel Butler, which I
attempted to read for the first time after my 8 year old son read Mary Pope
Osborne's rendition of The Odyssey, but I did not have the same success he
had. I think I'll be more successful with your translation. (Toronto)
______
Your translation is so much easier to understand than any other
publication available. Even what we have read online has helped my son who
is encountering this
epic for his first time ever as a high school freshman.
______
Thank you very much for the modern translation of the Iliad of Homer. I am
enjoying it very much. I learned of your translation of the Iliad from NPR.
I found it on the web and after reading a few lines was immediately
convinced that it offered a far better introduction to the text than any of
the other translations that I've read. Thank you both for the work you've
done in making the translation. Let me congratulate you for this very practical
possibility, of outstanding quality. (Saarbrucken)
______
Your translation of "The Iliad" is quite remarkable. It
has power that I have not seen in previous translations. Thank you for this
work. I look forward to adding it and your
translation of "The Odyssey" to my library. (Ann Arbor)
______
Thank you so much for
bringing Homer's works to life in a way that I and I'm sure thousands of
others will love. (Kansas)
______
I read your translation of the Iliad last semester as I was preparing for my
exams in university. I enjoyed it very much. My professor assigned the Lattimore translation, which I found absolutely mind-numbing to read, so I
scoured the internet to find a more friendly translation, which I found in
yours. I'd like to thank and
commend you on producing wonderful translations of these texts. I know I
will return to translations of yours whenever possible in the future. I am
enjoying very much your lucid translation of On the Genealogy of Morals. I
find it much more accessible than the earlier Kaufmann edition, thus
enabling a readier sense of conversation with this cantankerous uncle of
ours. (Washington, DC)
______
I read the text on Bacchae and I found it very useful. I want to translate
it to Macedonian for our class, but I'm having trouble understanding (or
better yet translating) some of the sentences and points in the text. So, I
was wondering if I can ask you for some clarification? (Macedonia)
______
As part of the drama minor programme, I am producing The Bacchae, and I've
decided to use your translation. Having read your translation for my Greek
Tragedy class, I found your version surprisingly accessible for a
translation that’s so faithful to the Greek. (Fredericton)
______
I have very much enjoyed reading your Homer translations – I
really enjoy the easy fluidity of your style! (Harrisburg, NC)
______
Thank you so much for the translation of "The Frogs..." I am going to see the play performed tonight at the ancient
theatre in Argos and I'm sure I'll get a lot more out of it thanks to your
efforts. I compared a few translations but yours seemed the most satisfying.
The notes are very useful, too - I might have got the mythological
references, and even some of the literary ones, but gay Athenians, ghost
writers and crooked laundry keepers would have passed me by.
______
Hello. I'm a student at the University of Illinois - Chicago and am a
big fan of your work. I strangely find myself coming back again and
again to your work... leaving each time with a satisfying reading
experience. As I'm sure you are acutely aware, your work has a certain
pristine quality to it that other translations fall short of. The
clarity of your expression (and the accuracy too) is quite remarkable. I've
long been a fan of your translation of the Iliad---now that the Odyssey's
here, I can't be happier. Do you have a fairly modern translation of Lysistrata? I love the translation of
Oedipus the King I wish to
congratulate you on a fine translation of Homers epic poem. For poetic
content, I always favored Lattimer's translation. (Who else rendered English
into the Greek favored Spondaic Hexameter?) But for flow and understanding,
you translation is, in my humble opinion, vastly superior.
______
Your translation of the Iliad is fantastic; I'm really enjoying it (as
is my six-year old, who occasionally has me read some to him). I'm
fairly tearing through it at this point, and looking forward to the
"sequel"...the Odyssey?
Cordially yours,
John M.
Kindest Regards
Richard W.
I wish to congratulate you on a fine translation of Homers epic poem. For
poetic content, I always favored Lattimer's translation. (Who else rendered
English into the Greek favored Spondaic Hexameter?) But for flow and
understanding, you translation is, in my humble opinion, vastly superior.
Again I offer thanks and congratulations for your fine work.
Best wisher,
Bert F.
Thanks for your work. My students will benefit.
Merci encore
Yours,
Timothy E
Fellow in Law
Balliol College
Oxford
Ian B.
Warm regards,
Eleni M.
Yours, Tang
Frank R.
Many, many thanks for your recent translation of the Iliad. I was
classically trained myself, and now my son is going off to St. John's
College in Annapolis. His first assignment is the Iliad, and I have given
him your translation. It has the life of the original!!!!
David S.
Lehigh University
Yours,
Tom B.
Andrew Porter
Graduate Lecturer
Editorial Assistant for the journal Oral Tradition
Editor of Mercurius
Department of Classical Studies
420 GCB
University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211
I came across your Iliad translation when I made a Google (actually Vivisimo)
search for new translations and/or the original Greek online.
Yours is simply gorgeous, or at least what I've seen of it. It's the truest
in both verse form and spirit of the original that I've seen. Don't mean to
gush, but it simply blew me away.
With best wishes,
Nancy C.
(St Andrews, Scotland)
(California)
Thank you so much for this beautiful translation of the Iliad. I have been
searching and searching for a poetic form of the Iliad that I can give to my
sophomores. This will totally work. I really enjoy your translation of
the Iliad. Thank you so much for making this and your other translations
available.. I have been using small sections of it my Western Civ classes
for years. (Idaho)
I really liked your translations of The Iliad and The
Odyssey. Would you mind if I used them in the lesson as course books?
(Uzbekistan)
(Regina)
(Peoria, Illinois)
(New York City)
______
I would like to express my sincere
thanks for your translation of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals.
I am using it this semester in my Introduction to Philosophy
course. I find it forceful and accurate, successfully capturing the
spirit of the work, and my students find it stimulating and interesting
to read. It is wonderful that you have made such a fine contribution to
scholarship. [RO, Rhode Island]
______
I am not a student or academic. In my spare time, I read philosophy and
am coming to grips with Nietzsche. I bought a translation of "The
Genealogy of Morality (/Morals)" by Maudemarie Clark and Peter
Swensen, but found your translation of infinitely more value. It is much
easier to understand. [DJP]
______
I have read your translation of
Nietzsche's Toward a Genealogy of Morals and consider it
to be far clearer than Kaufmann's.
[AG]
______
Your translation is wonderfully
done. I wrote a paper on "On the Use..." in a graduate
seminar and the copy from our library was stilted and awkward.
Everything else I had read by Nietzsche was wonderfully fluid and
poetic. I couldn't believe that the version from our library was by the
same author. Your translation captures Nietzsche's poetic element
wonderfully, bravo! [AM]
______
I am enjoying very much your lucid translation of On the Genealogy of Morals. I find it much more accessible than the earlier Kaufmann edition, thus enabling a readier sense of conversation with this cantankerous uncle of ours. [BO’R, Washington, DC]
______
I just wanted to say I think your translation of Zur Genealogie
der Moral might be the best available on the Internet! It is not
perfect, to be sure, but very, very good indeed. [AL, Hamburg, Germany]
______
[re Kant]I haven't read through the entire translation yet, and much less compared it to the German (anyway, my German is rusty, and at least later on, Kant seems quite consciously forging a new technical vocabulary - "Objekt" vs. "Gegenstand" and all that...). What I did read through, leads me to think this is just dandy and a real contribution. [DJ]
Sign up to receive notice of free eBooks, new releases and special subscriber-only offers.
(You can unsubscribe at any time)