<3 The Oddysey is a lovely epic poem, and improves upon the Iliad by not having a chapter that is mostly a recitation of the boats of every little greek city that happened to send a boat to Troy.
I really like the Wilson translation! I think it toes a very good line between trying to preserve the meaning of the original and, simultaneously, a natural-sounding line in English that doesn't sound awful.
Do you think reading Circe and the Penelopiad influenced your reading of the Oddysey? Because one thing I find fascinating about Ancient Greek media is how despite it being a very sexist society -- a without a doubt misogynistic society -- there are so many female characters with strong, even heroic attributes and clear power to influence events: Penelope's quiet and clever rebellion; Calypso's straight out pointing out of the double standards; Circe's knowledge and power; Athena the Patron; Persephone the master of ghosts. Circe and the Penelopiad often I think go further in this respect, both unquestionably feminist tales in many ways (especially the Penelopiad which is so much about women's roles and surviving as a woman in a man's world), but it captures my attention, even in the original.
There's an interesting (short) lecture from Dr. Fiona Macintosh from Oxford that talks about how very morally polarizing the hanging of the maids is, and how it has been simultaneously considered so minor a scene as to be cut from some translations (!) while others dwell, and how some of the retellings can make it the most upsetting and awful scene in the book -- especially the Penelopiad.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2019-11-12 01:31 am (UTC)I really like the Wilson translation! I think it toes a very good line between trying to preserve the meaning of the original and, simultaneously, a natural-sounding line in English that doesn't sound awful.
Do you think reading Circe and the Penelopiad influenced your reading of the Oddysey? Because one thing I find fascinating about Ancient Greek media is how despite it being a very sexist society -- a without a doubt misogynistic society -- there are so many female characters with strong, even heroic attributes and clear power to influence events: Penelope's quiet and clever rebellion; Calypso's straight out pointing out of the double standards; Circe's knowledge and power; Athena the Patron; Persephone the master of ghosts. Circe and the Penelopiad often I think go further in this respect, both unquestionably feminist tales in many ways (especially the Penelopiad which is so much about women's roles and surviving as a woman in a man's world), but it captures my attention, even in the original.
There's an interesting (short) lecture from Dr. Fiona Macintosh from Oxford that talks about how very morally polarizing the hanging of the maids is, and how it has been simultaneously considered so minor a scene as to be cut from some translations (!) while others dwell, and how some of the retellings can make it the most upsetting and awful scene in the book -- especially the Penelopiad.