#Translating ancient poems

[katerinaaqu]

Homer's Menelaus: Ah, I grieve for my best friend, the one who suffered more than any of us to the point I cannot sleep or eat! What accursed fate has befallen on that great man!

Eurypedes's Menelaus: Ah that blasted son of Sisiphus is a people pleaser addicted to the love of the crowd! He will do anything to give blood to please the mob! If he is onto us we're lost!

Like...Eurypedes my boy I love your writing on many aspects but...what the fuck? 😅😂

[lionofchaeronea]

An Epigram on Marcus Aurelius' Meditations

Anthologia Palatina XV.23, author unknown

If you wish to master grief, Open up this blessed book And come to it attentively-- Through it, you may easily see The richest way of thinking about What's to come, what is now, And what is past--how joy and pain Are no whit mightier than smoke.

εἰ λύπης κρατέειν ἐθέλεις, τήνδε μάκαιραν ἀναπ��ύσσων βίβλον ἐπέρχεο ἐνδυκέως, ἧς ὕπο γνώμην ὀλβίστην ῥεῖά κεν ὄψεαι ἐσσομένων, ὄντων ἠδὲ παροιχομένων, τερπωλὴν τ᾽ ἀνίην τε καπνοῦ μηδὲν ἀρειοτέρην.

[anniflamma]

Reading some poetry by Rumi that he wrote to/about Shams… Remember, guys! All that gay stuff is just metaphors!

"I became his flute and started crying when his lips touched me. I was blindly searching for his hand while all the while he was holding mine."

Like I said… It's just a metaphor for friendship!

[shine-reblogs]

I've started reading the Odyssey because of EPIC and here go some of the thoughts I've been having while reading because I just realised I could annoy you all with them xD

(you're gonna get the first several chapters/books in a pack because I started doing this late lol)

Books I-IV

-"Oh, Muses, tell us the story of the man who [insert half the stuff that happens to Odysseus]" this would give a heart attack to people who change the plot when the audience can guess it lmaooo

-Gods why is this written using so much archaic language

-Why are all the gods so afraid of going against Poseidon? They literally go "we all love Odysseus, but Poseidon hates him so... Quick! Let's help Odysseus while the god is away at Ethiopia!" Like, couldn't you take him? (In a fight)

-Every time someone is mentioned they use an epithet, adjective, or short description (which was probably more cool in ancient greek and with the story recited/sung along music, but right now it's only low-key annoying)

-Misogyny is in the air~

-Why every time someone's mentioned they have to tell me their whole lineage? I forgot what we were talking about by the time they're done

-Woe! Infodumping be upon ye!

-Seriously if I wrote some of this stuff today my writing teachers would have critiqued the shit out of it lol

-Some literary devices that make sense for poetry are so not working for the translated version, where it reads as weird and annoying purple prose

-Like the constantly repeating structures and even whole sentences

-Everyone is said to 'resemble the gods'. At this point this sentence has lost all meaning by how much it's repeated

-Omg who snitched about Penelope's ruse with weaving by day and unweaving by night to the suitors?! And why?! (I guess for more drama)

Books V-VIII

-After 4 books/chapters I'm starting to get used to the archaic language, but I still have to read some sentences several times in a 'I understand every word individually but wtf does this mean?' situation sometimes

-Also, I just realised I was reading a century old translation, so I tried switching into a more recent one... and was disappointed to find it's still written in archaic language with minimal improvement

-Omg we're finally getting to Odysseus!! Starting by him leaving Ogigia

-Athena is actually playing a very active role, although she doesn't dare manifest to Odysseus because what if Poseidon notices

-Odysseus covering his junk with a branch/some leaves (because he came out of the sea butt naked) before approaching people for help was not on my bingo card

-Like. This moment is kinda funny knowing he will fight the suitors completely naked later lmao

-No, Odysseus, don't start eating and drinking a lot and quickly after days of fasting, you will upset your stomach!

-They just told me the names of everyone running out the palace to participate in the games and I haven't processed a single one of them lol

-"Eh tú, pringao, a que no hay huevos a participar en los juegos?" "Que no qué, panda de niñatos?!"

-Sorry for switching to spanish, I had to xD (also, if things were actually translated using that kind of language I would be so much more into the story lmao)

-(btw a rough translation would be: "hey, you loser! I bet you don't have the balls to join the games!" "I don't what now, you brats?!")

More in the reblogs, I will link to the final version here once I finish reading and sharing my thoughts about it xD

[blvvdk3ep]

Don't mind me I'm just gonna stand in this corner and lose my mind over Joseph of Exeter's poem "De Bello Troiano" where Patroclus' severed head whispers, "Ultor ubi Aecides?" (Where is Achilles, my avenger?") after Hector slays him

[abissusandiuno]

KLYTAIMESTRA

Now you're making sense—

to call upon the thricegorged evil demon of this family.

Deep in its nerves is a lust to lick blood and no wound heals

before the next starts oozing.

- Agamemnon, Aiskhylos - translated by Anne Carson

[astravis]

Are there any nice Tokyo Ghoul metas dissecting nuances/differences between the official and fan translations?

This is something I’ve seen a lot of scattered posts nitpicking - well, with the official translation as fans often do - from awkward phrasings, to inconsistencies (including with terminology, I have Viz volumes). But surprisingly, as much as I’ve seen people complain about Viz, I haven’t found anyone go into a detailed comparison between official and fan translations. You’d think that’d be right up the alley of fans (especially) in the height of writing novels about tarot cards and flower symbolism :p

The only meta I could find on translation differences is this one that covers a single classic quote. (Albeit not including the raw)

But! To my surprise! Someone wrote a thesis comparing the accuracy of the translations. Based on the examples quoted, it looks like this is limited to volume 1. TLDR: Argues that Viz contains less errors overall and opts for natural flow over preserving the sentence structure.

I'm sure I've missed things that would be a good addition to this.

[i-only-eat-four-leaf-clovers]

Translating seemingly untranstable poems #2

Hymn to Aphrodite 

This poem was written by the famous poetess Sappho. Most of her work was this destroyed : this might be the only remaining full poem. I gotta make use of the years I spent studying ancient greek, so this version is unique :) 

By the way this was translated from ancient greek to french to english, so I did use some translating tools to help me with the english part.

Ô immortal Aphrodite on your multicolored throne, 

daughter of Zeus, weaver of cunning, I implore you,

do not tame, neither through torment nor disgust, 

master, my heart,

But come over here, if some day already 

you heard my voice by listening from afar 

and, departing from your father’s home, 

you came 

Having hitched a golden carriage, 

beautiful swift sparrows guided you around the dark earth 

their compact wings beating through the sky 

in the midst of the ether : 

They approached rapidly. You, blissful, 

your immortal face smiling, 

you inquire what I am once again enduring,

what I request once more, 

and especially what I long to see flourish 

in my restless heart : Whom must I persuade again 

to lead into your love ? Who, ô Sappho, 

troubles you ? 

And if she indeed flees, promptly she’ll pursue you,  

if she refuses your presents, then she’ll give them to you, 

if she doesn’t cherish you, she’ll love you at once, 

although she doesn’t wish to. 

Come to me now, liberate me 

from my cruel worries, fulfill all 

my heart’s desires , once more  

be my ally. 

[vaultureculture]

Reading Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose again. It's fucking delirious with all the grandiloquent philosophy, theology and the passages in Latin, and it's so fun. Genuinely. What a puzzle of a book. Extremely historically accurate, too. I'm glad to have been taught Latin as part of my curriculum because it means I get to read this in the og version and fully understand it as I go.

This novel combines two of my favorite things, reading and translating. It's my favorite book, has been since I first read it at 13.

[katerinaaqu]

Εἷς οἰωνός ἄριστος, ἀμύνεσθαι περί πάτρης

There is no better omen than fighting for one's own country

Hector of Troy, The Iliad (Homer, 8th century BC)

[unabashedqueenfury]

Reign 2013-2017

Mary and Francis

"Si chiama Andromaca. Si dice che Ettore la ami sopra ogni cosa."

[lionofchaeronea]

Woe is me! That boy had arrows that hit the mark. I burn, and Love is king in my empty breast. Me miserum! certas habuit puer ille sagittas. Uror, et in vacuo pectore regnat Amor. -Ovid, Amores I.1.25-26

[felixravinstills]

I think in SOTR, Suzanne Collins should introduce a character named Lesbia Sparrow, and this can be like her Palamedes Sextus (Sex Pal), except unlike in Gideon the Ninth, the joke is never explained.

[poems-from-around-the-world]

"The ancient Greeks believed a stone fell to the ground" - Eldrid Lunden - Norway

Translator: Annabelle Despard (Norwegian)

The ancient Greeks believed a stone fell to the ground because it belonged there

We believe in gravity. But we feel that the Greeks’ idea is much more poetic

[raining-anonymously]

kennings can be such a tender thing

they can also be kind of rude

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

I'm sorry but "Sappho wannabe" is the BEST first impression I've had of anyone ever

Thanks! And is 100% true.

I’m obsessed with her, she’s actually my favorite writer.