2 months ago
- Ordinary words and phrases can be the hardest to translate, not just the complex ones.
- Homeric characters often have standard epithets that fit metrically with their names.
- Odysseus's olive wood bed symbolizes his control over his household and his craftsmanship.
- Translation comparison aims to analyze how English versions echo and differ from the Greek, not to rank or criticize.
- Emily Wilson used Twitter to share insights on translation challenges and compare passages from different translations.
- Her Twitter presence was described as revolutionary for exposing the process of knowledge formation.
- Selected Twitter threads cover topics like Hector and Andromache, translation dilemmas, and specific scenes from Homer and Ovid.
- Wilson discusses the impossibility of perfectly translating Homer due to linguistic and stylistic differences.
- Key translation issues include metaphor, stylistic equivalence, and handling wordplay or cultural nuances.
- Notable moments analyzed include Argos the dog, the hanging of slave women, and the Sirens' cognitive seduction.