tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post2589689991768375656..comments2023-05-27T06:57:26.684-05:00Comments on A Great Books Reading Blog: Troilus and Cressida - ChaucerPederhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16979481342103258777noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post-89432791282791255242014-06-16T07:37:09.792-05:002014-06-16T07:37:09.792-05:00No problem on the long comment. This is very help...No problem on the long comment. This is very helpful. Thanks!Pederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16979481342103258777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post-9314444535674277582014-06-15T23:10:53.318-05:002014-06-15T23:10:53.318-05:00Fagles is very easy to understand and I would perh...Fagles is very easy to understand and I would perhaps use him for an introduction to the poem for high school students but otherwise, when I read him, I don't really feel that I'm reading Homer.<br /><br />My online friend, who studied Greek and is quite knowledgeable, had this to say about the translations:<br /><br /><i> "For the Iliad and the Odyssey, imnsho, the only translations I have ever seen which begin to do justice to Homer are Lattimore's. Simple, unadorned, but managing in so many places to capture the feel of the original. I wish I had maintained my Greek, because the original is always better... some things just can't be translated... but Lattimore makes me catch glimpses of the real thing and has a quiet grandeur which I love.<br /><br />Fitzgerald has a nice translation of the Aeneid, but his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey are, imho, too florid.. there is too much Fitzgerald and not enough Homer. They are pretty, but way off key.<br /><br />The Fagles translations repulse me. They are so colloquial, so far from Homeric that they feel more like modern adaptations than translations.<br /><br />Lombardo takes even more liberties with the text - imho this is definitely more of an adaptation than a translation.<br /><br />For a very literal translation (most useful if you are trying to translate Homer yourself) the Loeb editions have facing English and Greek pages and follows the word order of each Greek line as closely as possible - I wouldn't use it as a primary text, but it is a neat supplement. (Ex: "The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son Achilles," )<br /><br />Some people like the Rieu prose translations, and I guess they could serve as an intro to Homer, but I wouldn't use them. <br /><br />Mandlebaum has a slightly clunky translation of the Odyssey - he is my translator of choice for Dante (though it was a hard choice!), but not for Homer... but, unlike most of the others it *is* a reasonably reliable translation, as I recall. <br /><br />Pope's translations are an older version of what Fagles has done - an adaptation in the "translator's" own style.. pretty, but not Homer... but, imo, less grating than Fagles and less ornate than Fitzgerald... though Fitzgerald is a more reliable translator.<br /><br />Butler has prose translations of Homer... pedestrian is the adjective I would apply to them. Rieu's has a little more flavor, but Butler's is sold and straightforward.... not a version I would choose, but there isn't anything *wrong* with it...<br /><br />Chapman's translation is a classic in its own right, but one I would read for itself not for Homer... <br /><br />Those are all of the translations I have read… or at least can remember off hand with two days of holiday approaching! HTH "</i><br /><br />That should give you some information to chew on, Peder.<br /><br />As for The Aeneid, Fitzgerald is the go-to for translators, as she says. <br /><br />Hope that helps a little. Sorry for the overly-long comment!Cleohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13152128642971612433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post-13426114547313563252014-06-13T15:42:05.333-05:002014-06-13T15:42:05.333-05:00Very interesting. IIRC, back when I was reading t...Very interesting. IIRC, back when I was reading the Iliad, Fagles was widely discussed as the gold standard. The translation I have was from Rieu. I'll keep an eye out for the Lattimore one. <br />My copy of the Aeneid is Fitzgerald. Is he the best, or should I keep an eye out for someone else? <br />I'm wildly inexperienced here, so I appreciate any advice!Pederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16979481342103258777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post-6413845527923204202014-06-12T12:48:23.766-05:002014-06-12T12:48:23.766-05:00Based on the books you've been reading, the po...Based on the books you've been reading, the poetic translation of The Iliad would be relatively easy for you. It's much easier than Paradise Lost. If you don't mind a recommendation, I would definitely get the Lattimore translation. Fitzgerald is good but I've been told he likes to embellish, so the poem becomes more Fitzgerald than Homer, and Fagles is simplified so it almost is a re-telling rather than a translation. Lattimore is the most balanced in form and content and his writing is wonderful! I hope you get to read it again one day!Cleohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13152128642971612433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post-44797157595949128532014-06-11T17:30:02.385-05:002014-06-11T17:30:02.385-05:00Thanks for the encouragement, Cleo! I read the fi...Thanks for the encouragement, Cleo! I read the first half or so of Paradise Lost a couple of years ago so I'm already comfortable with it. And it is a very good read. When I read through the 'Iliad' last year, it was a narrative translation. Not sure how a poetic translation would have been.<br />Pederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16979481342103258777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828125223861187137.post-47379397526936113342014-06-11T15:53:42.390-05:002014-06-11T15:53:42.390-05:00I don't remember Troilus or Cressida in The Il...I don't remember Troilus or Cressida in The Iliad either! Perhaps Chaucer is a Euripides wannabe? ;-) <br /><br />I've loved all the epic poetry that I've read to this point (much to my surprise!). Enjoy Paradise Lost. It's my favourite book of 2014 so far!Cleohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13152128642971612433noreply@blogger.com