Chapman's Iliad
Arguably the second most famous Iliad in English (I'd say Pope's ranks above in terms of fame) but personally, I would place Chapman's Iliad as the greatest in the English language. Obviously, I can't post the entire thing, but here are a few standout passages for me. You can find the whole poem online, it's been in the public domain for centuries.
Opening Lines
Achilles’ baneful wrath resound, O Goddess, that impos’d
Infinite sorrows on the Greeks, and many brave souls los’d.
From breasts heroic; sent them far to that invisible cave
That no light comforts; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave;
To all which Jove’s will gave effect; from whom first strife begun
Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis’ godlike son.
This one is worth comparing the Greek and English of Chapman
Homeric Simile
ἠύτε ἔθνεα εἶσι μελισσάων ἁδινάων,
πέτρης ἐκ γλαφυρῆς αἰεὶ νέον ἐρχομενάων·
βοτρυδὸν δὲ πέτονται ἐπ᾿ ἄνθεσιν εἰαρινοῖσιν·
αἱ μέν τ᾿ ἔνθα ἅλις πεποτήαται, αἱ δέ τε ἔνθα· (2.87–90)
(Even as tribes of gathering bees go forth from some hollow rock, ever coming on afresh, and in
clusters over spring flowers fly in a throng, some here, some there.)
Trs. credit to Robert S. Miola
Chapman's
As when of frequent bees
Swarms rise out of a hollow rock, repairing the degrees
Of their egression endlessly with ever rising new,
From forth their sweet nest as their store, still as it faded, grew,
And never would cease sending forth her clusters to the spring,
They still crowd out so, this flock here, that there, belabouring
The loaded flow’rs
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