tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16646992.post6909709116666055267..comments2023-10-14T23:56:22.016-10:00Comments on Reflecting Light: On first looking into Fagles's HomerRick Darbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371910140619422820noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16646992.post-10950440651094146682010-12-28T14:14:00.585-10:002010-12-28T14:14:00.585-10:00Lawrence,
I didn't have that reaction to Fagl...Lawrence,<br /><br />I didn't have that reaction to Fagles's translation, although I have no doubt he was consciously trying to appeal to a large audience, or as large as any classical literature can attract.<br /><br />His verse is rather low-key and plain, downplaying word magic, and as you say emphasizing the action through his phrasing. But Homer <i>is</i> in large part the poetry of action. Less so in the <i>Odyssey</i> than in the <i>Iliad</i>, but still, such non-civilized themes as revenge and judging men by their prowess as warriors play a big part.<br /><br />What I thought was good about the Fagles translation was its sturdiness and clarity. Those aren't the only virtues a transmission of Homer can give, and Fagles leans too much to the prosaic for my taste, but no version (even our admired Lattimore) can do everything.Rick Darbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02371910140619422820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16646992.post-6550964020937662372010-12-27T16:36:42.548-10:002010-12-27T16:36:42.548-10:00I tried Fagles's Iliad when it came out in the...I tried Fagles's Iliad when it came out in the nineties. I found it not just unsatisfactory, but unreadable--jumpy and excessively kinetic, with lots of phrases enclosed in em dashes, as though deliberately seeking to subvert the idea of a poetic line. It was as though his main intent was to make the reader nervous, just as the main intent of so much contemporary film and TV drama is to make the viewer nervous. I believe Fagles was deliberately appealing to a certain decadent contemporary sensibility. People don't want beauty and sense, they want jumpiness; and that's what he decided to give them. <br /><br />My own experience of "On first looking into..." was with Lattimore's Iliad at age 13 or 14. I was knocked over and captivated by it. Yes, it has flaws but nothing I've seen has come close to it.Lawrence Austerhttp://www.amnation.com/vfrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16646992.post-74232725997819311382010-12-27T05:19:18.223-10:002010-12-27T05:19:18.223-10:00Van Wijk,
I've only read the Pope translation...Van Wijk,<br /><br />I've only read the Pope translation in excerpts. I don't think I'd make it through his entire volume, too much like having dessert for every meal.<br /><br />Marcus,<br /><br />Never heard of Lombardo's translations. Based on your recommendation, maybe next time I take up reading Homer that will be my choice.Rick Darbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02371910140619422820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16646992.post-54257929823791970332010-12-26T19:52:44.861-10:002010-12-26T19:52:44.861-10:00I studied two years of ancient Greek in college at...I studied two years of ancient Greek in college at Chicago (it was a Straussian thing to do), and though I am no classicists (I'm divorced, not a virgin), my impression is that the newer translations by Lombardo are wonderful - at least the Iliad. I've always found Lattimore cumbersome and exceedingly hard to read. The fact that Lattinore and Fagles are the "most read" does not recommend them as we live in an age when less and less classical literature is read. Those translations have hardly made the youth rush out and be inspired by Homer. <br /><br />I like Pope and Dryden's Virgil because I'd rather have an excellent poet retell the poem in his own right than have a mediocre one attempt a transliteration, which is what Lattimore did. Really, he put me off to Homer until I discovered Lombardo.<br /><br />My personal take is that translating even a common list of household items from ancient Greek is impossible without disputes, so I side with the better poet, not the scholar. Lombardo is both.<br /><br />Thanks for the post.Marcushttp://www.youtube.com/user/MarcusCMarcellus?feature=mhumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16646992.post-67581343223837274532010-12-26T16:29:29.551-10:002010-12-26T16:29:29.551-10:00I have a beautiful bound copy of Pope's Odysse...I have a beautiful bound copy of Pope's <i>Odyssey</i>, but I never cared for Pope's version. I grew up reading W.H.D. Rouse's translations of Homer and Bulfinch and haven't had much desire to move past them. <br /><br />I still have the first book I ever owned, a paperback copy of Edith Hamilton's <i>Mythology</i>, which I read at age 11 or so.Van Wijknoreply@blogger.com