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/lit/ - Literature

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10074738 No.10074738 [Reply] [Original]

Which translation do I read of the following
>The Odyssey
>The Iliad
>The Aeneid
>Dante

>> No.10074748
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10074748

>translation
Don't bother.

>> No.10074755

>>10074748
DO fuck off

>> No.10074771

>>10074738

For The Iliad and the Odyssey, Lattimore is renown for his translations. Many consider them the best possible translations since he adheres closely to the original Greek.

For The Divine Comedy, I've heard good things about Ciardi and many consider his version the best.

I'm not sure about the Aeneid. Fagles did a translation but I don't know anything about it. His version is pretty common but I didn't like Fagles' rendition of the Iliad/the Odyssey so I don't trust him much. I'd research this one more.

But definitely go with Lattimore for Homer, and Ciardi for Dante.

>> No.10074774

Learning greek is too hard for me
Spoonfeed me the translations /lit/

>> No.10074777

fagles and ciardi

>> No.10074778

>>10074771
Thank you, I'll definitely look up Lattimore and Ciardi

>> No.10074780

>>10074771
>adheres closely to the original Greek.
isn't that a bad thing in poetry?

>> No.10074782
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10074782

>>10074738
use the chart newfags

>> No.10074794
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10074794

>>10074755

>> No.10074801

>>10074782
Do you have the chart for Homer too?

>> No.10074827

Fagles for Aeneid
Lattimore for Homer
Kirkpatrick for Dante

>> No.10074857
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10074857

>>10074738
Fagles for straightforward
Pope for dank verse

>> No.10074863

Iliad/Odyssey, Lattimore
Aeneid, Fitzgerald

EVERYTHING is inferior. Fagles is terrible.

>> No.10075561

>>10074738

I've got the Samuel Butler translation, and it was a bother to think to myself every time I read the name "Jove" to think Jupiter/Zeus and Juno as Hera, etc. Trying to keep track of characters with different names is just one step farther away from enjoying the book fully.

>> No.10075669

>>10074738
No reason not to go with the Mandelbaum Everyman unless you're looking for a poetic version, than Ciardi.

>> No.10075686

>>10075669

i agree with this 100%. i read dante in various translations, and the one i enjoyed most was mandelbaum's, even over the ones that are more "renowned" than his. ciardi's is good for its poetic voice, and a handful of key quotes are translated with a little more flair and gravitas in ciardi, but i think the best overall translation for most readers is mandelbaum's.

>> No.10075711
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10075711

>>10075669
>>10075686
I took the coward's approach and purchased Mandelbaum's translations as well as the Oxford one by Sisson's, which I feel lies halfway between the pair in terms of fidelity and license. I could be wrong though - I'm not an expert and I'm only just now through Inferno and moving into Purgatorio. Both of these anons sum up my feelings on Ciardi/Mandelbaum - it's different things for different people. Both of them have sections which really shine, and I feel better for having read them both.

>> No.10075717

>>10075711
>sisson's
fuck my spelling

>> No.10075746

>>10074738
Lattimore for the Homers, maybe Fagles for the Virgil (not sure), Durling, Singleton, Bickersteth, Musa, Hollander, or Binyon for Dante.

>> No.10075750

>>10075746
Forgot Madelbaum or Ciardi for Dante

>> No.10075759
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10075759

>>10074738
IF YOU DON'T READ POPE AND DRYDEN POETIC TRANSLATIONS YOU ARE A FUCKING PLEB AND THAT IS FINAL I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PEOPLE ARE ON MY BOARD RECOMENDING FAGLES

>> No.10075765

>>10075759
>not reading multiple translations at once
I dunno man.

>> No.10075900

>>10075759
Agreed. You're all plebs.

>> No.10076711

>>10074738
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=iliad+translation+4chan+lit

>> No.10077026

>>10076711
But /lit/ usually has the best opinion I don't trust yahoo answers

>> No.10077064

>>10075759
Dryden's translations are unsurpassed. Particularly his versions of Horace and Ovid, highly recommend, in part bc I think the subject matter and urbane temperament of the Augustan era romans suited him. Nobody has ever surpassed Dryden for sophisticated, powerful diction, and that includes Pope. He is arguably also the first great prose writer in English with his literary criticism.

>> No.10077077

>>10075711
Reading Sisson's right now and it's really bugging me. It so plain and... unpoetic. I can't compare it to any others but I suspect I made a bad choice.

>> No.10077105

>>10077026
I gave you link to /lit/ opinions.

>> No.10077119

C. Day Lewis translation of the Aeneid is closer to literal so I prefer that one