Duel in the Sun, at the stroke of high noon
Recently I bought a third translation of Homer: the translation by Alexander Pope. It, alas, lacks the famous preface where he decried the Odyssey as unworthy of translation. You see, he loved the Iliad, and only translated the second work because of financial reasons. Pope was one of the very first commercially successful writers: he supported himself through sales of such works as his Homer. I read an introduction to a collection of Greek Tragedies where the translator mused on the great problem of enjoying Pope's translation. Are you, he pondered, enjoying Homer? Or Pope? Each of whom is pretty widely regarded as a genius without peer in his age; and Pope is far from a clear lens through which to view Homer.
The usual allegory runs that Pope is to Virgil what Dryden is to Homer... how true that is I don't know, but for myself I prefer both Homer and Dryden.
The other two translations I own are a very strict metrical rendition by Lattimore, which is the standard first year Classics text, and the re-rendered and freer translation by Fagles, which is a much more elegant read. I have also browsed some of the common prose translations, such as Rieu's Penguin edition, which became the set text for Stage II when I was doing the Epic Paper Clas 210. I generally find that these leave me a bit cold.
Just as Pope before me, I prefer the Iliad, and I thought I would illustrate the difference a translator can make to your enjoyment of Homer by quoting one of my favourite passages, which is the show-down between Achilles, a real hero, and that nancy boy Roman, 20.206ff.
Lattimore (1951)Son of Peleus, never hope by words to frighten me
as if I were a baby. I myself understand well enough
how to speak in vituperation and how to make insults.
You and I know each other's birth, we both know our parents
since we have heard the lines of their fame from mortal men; only
I have never with my eyes seen your parents, nor have you seen mine.
For you, they say you are the issue of blameless Peleus
and that your mother is Thetis of the lovely hair, the sea's lady;
I in turn claim I am the son of great-hearted Anchises
but that my mother was Aphrodite; and that of these parents
one group or the other will have a dear son to mourn for
this day. Since I believe we will not in mere words, like children,
meet, and separate and go home again out of the fighting.
Fagles (1996)Don't think for a moment, Achilles, son of Peleus,
you can frighten me with words like a child, a fool -
I'm an old hand myself at trading taunts and insults.
We both know each other's birth, each other's parents,
we've heard their far-flung fame on the lips of mortal men,
though you have never set eyes on mine, or I on yours.
They say you are Peleus' son, that fine, flawless man;
your mother, Thetis, sleek-haired child of the Sea.
And I am Aeneas, and I can boast Anchises' blood,
the proud Anchises, but my mother is Aphrodite.
Our parents - one pair or the other will mourne
a dear son today. Certain it is, I warn you,
we won't break off from battle and leave the field
with no more than a youngster's banter light as this.
Pope (c. 1720)Such words employ
To one that fears thee, some unwarlike boy:
Such we disdain; the best may be defied
With mean reproaches, and unmanly pride;
Unworthy the high race from which we came,
Proclaim'd so loudly the voices of fame:
Each from illustrious fathers draws his line;
Each goddess-born; half human, half divine.
Thetis' this day, or Venus' offspring dies,
And tears shall trickle from celestial eyes:
For when two heroes, thus derived, contend,
'This not in words the glorious strife can end.
Butler (c. 1830)Son of Peleus, think not that your words can scare me as though I were a child. I too, if I will, can brag and talk unseemly. We know one another's race and parentage as matters of common fame, though neither have you ever seen my parents nor I yours. Men say that you are son to noble Peleus, and that your mother is Thetis, fair-haired daughter of the sea. I have noble Anchises for my father, and Venus for my mother; the parents of one or other of us shall this day mourn a son, for it will be more than silly talk that shall part us when the fight is over.
Lattimore and Fagles do not substantially disagree. Each point is made in both, with only a slight change in position. Pope however, ditches half the points made. The fathers not being named is a crucial change in emphasis. I think for both Achilles and Aeneas in the first two, equal pride is given to the fathers and their divine mothers. Pope emphasises the divine by naming those parents.
And yet, as you read through, and as you acclimatize to the heroic couplet, you find yourself whizzing through Pope, and enjoying his many little flourishes. The last two lines I've quoted, for example, have to me a much stronger and pithier reading than the rather laboured explanation offered by Fagles and Lattimore (especially Fagles!) It's a joy to read, in essence.
And I think you can also see Pope's keen understanding of the nature of epic bleeding through into his Dunciad. In order to mock something so well, perhaps you do need to love it.
At the end of the day, I think this is no different to the question of whether you enjoy the sexed-up movie-adaptation of a novel, or the meticulous novel. Or perhaps the difference is more akin to the British-American divide in TV styles?
I just thought you could all use a break from Ultimate Frisbee. :) And if you haven't ever read Homer, you really should.
The usual allegory runs that Pope is to Virgil what Dryden is to Homer... how true that is I don't know, but for myself I prefer both Homer and Dryden.
The other two translations I own are a very strict metrical rendition by Lattimore, which is the standard first year Classics text, and the re-rendered and freer translation by Fagles, which is a much more elegant read. I have also browsed some of the common prose translations, such as Rieu's Penguin edition, which became the set text for Stage II when I was doing the Epic Paper Clas 210. I generally find that these leave me a bit cold.
Just as Pope before me, I prefer the Iliad, and I thought I would illustrate the difference a translator can make to your enjoyment of Homer by quoting one of my favourite passages, which is the show-down between Achilles, a real hero, and that nancy boy Roman, 20.206ff.
Lattimore (1951)Son of Peleus, never hope by words to frighten me
as if I were a baby. I myself understand well enough
how to speak in vituperation and how to make insults.
You and I know each other's birth, we both know our parents
since we have heard the lines of their fame from mortal men; only
I have never with my eyes seen your parents, nor have you seen mine.
For you, they say you are the issue of blameless Peleus
and that your mother is Thetis of the lovely hair, the sea's lady;
I in turn claim I am the son of great-hearted Anchises
but that my mother was Aphrodite; and that of these parents
one group or the other will have a dear son to mourn for
this day. Since I believe we will not in mere words, like children,
meet, and separate and go home again out of the fighting.
Fagles (1996)Don't think for a moment, Achilles, son of Peleus,
you can frighten me with words like a child, a fool -
I'm an old hand myself at trading taunts and insults.
We both know each other's birth, each other's parents,
we've heard their far-flung fame on the lips of mortal men,
though you have never set eyes on mine, or I on yours.
They say you are Peleus' son, that fine, flawless man;
your mother, Thetis, sleek-haired child of the Sea.
And I am Aeneas, and I can boast Anchises' blood,
the proud Anchises, but my mother is Aphrodite.
Our parents - one pair or the other will mourne
a dear son today. Certain it is, I warn you,
we won't break off from battle and leave the field
with no more than a youngster's banter light as this.
Pope (c. 1720)Such words employ
To one that fears thee, some unwarlike boy:
Such we disdain; the best may be defied
With mean reproaches, and unmanly pride;
Unworthy the high race from which we came,
Proclaim'd so loudly the voices of fame:
Each from illustrious fathers draws his line;
Each goddess-born; half human, half divine.
Thetis' this day, or Venus' offspring dies,
And tears shall trickle from celestial eyes:
For when two heroes, thus derived, contend,
'This not in words the glorious strife can end.
Butler (c. 1830)Son of Peleus, think not that your words can scare me as though I were a child. I too, if I will, can brag and talk unseemly. We know one another's race and parentage as matters of common fame, though neither have you ever seen my parents nor I yours. Men say that you are son to noble Peleus, and that your mother is Thetis, fair-haired daughter of the sea. I have noble Anchises for my father, and Venus for my mother; the parents of one or other of us shall this day mourn a son, for it will be more than silly talk that shall part us when the fight is over.
Lattimore and Fagles do not substantially disagree. Each point is made in both, with only a slight change in position. Pope however, ditches half the points made. The fathers not being named is a crucial change in emphasis. I think for both Achilles and Aeneas in the first two, equal pride is given to the fathers and their divine mothers. Pope emphasises the divine by naming those parents.
And yet, as you read through, and as you acclimatize to the heroic couplet, you find yourself whizzing through Pope, and enjoying his many little flourishes. The last two lines I've quoted, for example, have to me a much stronger and pithier reading than the rather laboured explanation offered by Fagles and Lattimore (especially Fagles!) It's a joy to read, in essence.
And I think you can also see Pope's keen understanding of the nature of epic bleeding through into his Dunciad. In order to mock something so well, perhaps you do need to love it.
At the end of the day, I think this is no different to the question of whether you enjoy the sexed-up movie-adaptation of a novel, or the meticulous novel. Or perhaps the difference is more akin to the British-American divide in TV styles?
I just thought you could all use a break from Ultimate Frisbee. :) And if you haven't ever read Homer, you really should.