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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2062 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 29, 2024

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What are interesting translations of the Odyssey that I might not have come across in the past?

I've previously read most of Fagles' years and years ago, and I read the entirety of Pope's in 2020. And of course I've read Joyce's version. This year I've read the War Nerd Iliad and the Dryden Aeneid, I feel like I want to wrap it up with the Odyssey, but I'm not sure what translation to grab.

Robert Fitzgerald's 1965 translation is the standard modern version. Why not do that one?

Samuel Butler's 1900 translation was included in the Harvard Classics, but I usually recommend against it because it's in prose.

Is this completely independent of the twitter blow up around Emily Wilson?

twitter blow up

What was the nature of the blow up?

There was a tweet praising her translation due to a combination of contemporariness and culture war reasons. This triggered replies unfavorably comparing passages of said translation with the same bits from others.

I've only seen one of said comparisons, and, to be honest, it seemed pretty damning, but I'd rather not form my opinion from a single, probably-not-well-intentioned tweet.

Are you recommending this one or is the mention of Twitter beef meant to warn me off of it?

I've heard Wilson's translation is supposed to emphasize readability over poetic language, and also emphasize the grimness over the glory of war in its translation. Its focus on readability over poetic language makes it an easy target for tweets to mock it as a step down from previous translations, and a lot of right-wing twitter is very pro-glory over grimness. Plus she has been promoted as a girlboss, progressive translator, and that makes her an obvious cultural enemy.

I haven't read any translations myself, just retellings in various mediums. I don't feel a particular urge to get closer to the source material.

Neither, I haven't read any version of the Odyssey, I do follow Tyler Cowen quite closely so on his recommendation it was at the top of my list initially and now after the twitter blow up I'm leaning toward Fagles. Have you seen this side-by-side comparison?

The only thing missing from the comparison is the original Greek so we can judge who did it best.

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