#as Smintheus. which I then have to stop and look up oh. that means he's the mouse god and being the mouse god is important because | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ravencromwell · 3 months ago

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The poem evokes human greatness and human vulnerability. People are “godlike” in their courage and skill, but even the greatest mortals fall and clutch the dust between their bloody fingers. The beautiful word minunthadios , “short-lived,” is used of both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.

--Emily Wilson's introduction to the Iliad

#so. we've come to the Iliad section in my Early World Literature class. and in that context we're utilizing the public domain translation by #A. S. Kline which made me think: you know what would be extremely fucking cool? since I'm going to have access to the Kline text until #the course closes in December. why don't I at least start the Wilson version and see how the two translations differ? so I'm now reading #The Iliad #as translated by Wilson and performed by the utterly masterful Audra McDonald. or well. I _would be except I'm so delighted. stunned. by #the incisive thought-provokingness of her introduction I keep needing to pause and write down various quotes: just this whole idea of #the poem revolving around how all all our deaths shall come too soon and there is no adequate compensation for that awful fact just FUCK #linguistics #mythology #folklore #fairy tales #lit geekery #book babbling #(oh I am already so fucking deep in this fannish hell and I haven't even really started her translation: like the Kline one is fine. but #it's very focused on *trying* to be Homeric you know? so there are all these very archaic references ala to Apollo #as Smintheus. which I then have to stop and look up oh. that means he's the mouse god and being the mouse god is important because #it ties back to him being an oracular god. which is then why the Greeks want to turn to another oracular god when he gets all pissy at them #and on one level. learning that mice were associated with the power of prophecy? extremely cool shit. on the other. well I have to #read a large chunk of this text in a fucking week Kline my good bud was it really necessary to provide an odd mouse reference I then #needed to find the context for *myself* I can already tell Wilson's tendency to provide context. both in the intro and just in general #wanting to make it readable terms will make this so! much easier of an introduction. (Kline. by contrast. would be really fucking cool if #you were a third-time reader and wanted all the marvelous nuance. just *rubs forehead* not a great intro when you're only focusing on #this text for a fucking week)

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