The note about aromatics/scent reminded me of other twitter discourse: Dr. Ally Louks's thesis "Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose" and how people just Did Not Understand the purpose of this type of work despite it being such a big part of media and our lives. All roads lead back to Rome (derogatory)
I like that Emily is so honest about her process and likes and dislikes. We all have them and it must help her students immensely, rather than forcing them to learn by observation. I don't want to rush to judgment and say that much of the criticism of her is sexism, but the concern is always there. I remember her ripping one of my old professors a new one, of course in a scholarly way, about one of his translations. I don't want to flat out say that he was because I didn't have a lot of close interactions with him, but I'd say there was a lot of smoke if not fire.
I'm glad to see your enthusiasm for Homer. For me it was always an obligation, and while I have a somewhat growing interest in Dark Age society, there were just too many repetitive descriptions of hand to hand combat for me to love it. Odd because I like military stuff otherwise. I am reminded of Helene Hanff's story of her friend who got a PhD in Anglo-Saxon literature and who had to write an original work in Anglo-Saxon English, only to find that the only thing that enough words survive about is how to slaughter 100 men in a mead hall.
Enjoy your reading of Joyce. I have Irish ancestry so I have guilt that I'm not reading Joyce.
When I read the books of the Odyssey that I read in Greek I remember thinking that most of the translations were pretty terrible from the utilitarian perspective of trying to figure out what the words mean, as opposed to the poetics. I found the prose translation useful. When Wilson's book came out I read a number of reviews and articles and I looked up the passages where Emily had explained translation choices. Though I did not read a substantial portion of her translation alongside the Greek, I agreed with her far more than I disagreed, and I pretty much found her arguments interesting in all cases.
I fell in love with the language of Fagles when I was assigned it in high school, but having a full length translation of The Odyssey and The Iliad from someone who is so willing to talk through their process in the age of the internet and social media and blogs is phenomenal! I wish people who accuse her of having an angle would see this as a boon--she has a perspective because any translator does, but we've also had so much access to her process that she is willing to share.
But with poetry more than anything, and especially a poem like the Odyssey, which you can return to with new eyes in new ages with infinite rewards, I really do mean it when I say the obvious answer is to read it in as many ways as possible. Dante is the epic poet in the second language I've spent the most time studying formally and I'm always excited at the prospect of poking at new parts of the form with a new partner when a new translation comes out.
“… obvious answer to ‘what translation of The Odyssey should I read?’ which is: as many as you can get your hands on.”
❤️This is the correct answer.
The note about aromatics/scent reminded me of other twitter discourse: Dr. Ally Louks's thesis "Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose" and how people just Did Not Understand the purpose of this type of work despite it being such a big part of media and our lives. All roads lead back to Rome (derogatory)
I like that Emily is so honest about her process and likes and dislikes. We all have them and it must help her students immensely, rather than forcing them to learn by observation. I don't want to rush to judgment and say that much of the criticism of her is sexism, but the concern is always there. I remember her ripping one of my old professors a new one, of course in a scholarly way, about one of his translations. I don't want to flat out say that he was because I didn't have a lot of close interactions with him, but I'd say there was a lot of smoke if not fire.
I'm glad to see your enthusiasm for Homer. For me it was always an obligation, and while I have a somewhat growing interest in Dark Age society, there were just too many repetitive descriptions of hand to hand combat for me to love it. Odd because I like military stuff otherwise. I am reminded of Helene Hanff's story of her friend who got a PhD in Anglo-Saxon literature and who had to write an original work in Anglo-Saxon English, only to find that the only thing that enough words survive about is how to slaughter 100 men in a mead hall.
Enjoy your reading of Joyce. I have Irish ancestry so I have guilt that I'm not reading Joyce.
When I read the books of the Odyssey that I read in Greek I remember thinking that most of the translations were pretty terrible from the utilitarian perspective of trying to figure out what the words mean, as opposed to the poetics. I found the prose translation useful. When Wilson's book came out I read a number of reviews and articles and I looked up the passages where Emily had explained translation choices. Though I did not read a substantial portion of her translation alongside the Greek, I agreed with her far more than I disagreed, and I pretty much found her arguments interesting in all cases.
I fell in love with the language of Fagles when I was assigned it in high school, but having a full length translation of The Odyssey and The Iliad from someone who is so willing to talk through their process in the age of the internet and social media and blogs is phenomenal! I wish people who accuse her of having an angle would see this as a boon--she has a perspective because any translator does, but we've also had so much access to her process that she is willing to share.
But with poetry more than anything, and especially a poem like the Odyssey, which you can return to with new eyes in new ages with infinite rewards, I really do mean it when I say the obvious answer is to read it in as many ways as possible. Dante is the epic poet in the second language I've spent the most time studying formally and I'm always excited at the prospect of poking at new parts of the form with a new partner when a new translation comes out.