You Rage You Lose thread

[Anonymous No.16484315]

>Stephen Mitchell's take on "The Iliad," the first major new translation in nearly 15 years, is an action-packed, slick and contemporary rendering of the Trojan war saga. Mr. Mitchell took some unusual liberties: He cut about 1,100 lines, modernized the dialogue and left out most of the fusty-seeming descriptors attached to each character (swift-footed Achilles, bright-eyed Athena, crafty Odysseus).

>The text is peppered with modern slang. Helen refers to herself at one point as a "bitch" (the Greek original is "dog-eyed one"). Elsewhere, Hector yells a phrase at a soldier that could be literally translated as "Begone, cowardly puppet." Other translators have struggled with the insult, rendering it as "wicked doll," "rag doll" and "glittering little puppet." In Mr. Mitchell's translation, Hector yells, "Go ahead, sissy, run!" And when Achilles rails at Hector, he doesn't call him, "You doer of deeds not forgotten," as the original Greek reads. Instead, Mr. Mitchell has Achilles say, "Don't talk to me of agreements, you son of a bitch."

>Mr. Mitchell defends his movie-style dialogue. "If you translate literally, the English may sound stilted or phony," says Mr. Mitchell. Asked if he thought his version would stir controversy, he laughed. "Of course," he said. "That's how scholars earn their living, by disputing things."

>Mr. Mitchell, 68, may be the closest thing that the translation world has to a rock star. He brings oblique sayings in ancient languages to the masses, upsetting established scholars and occasionally creating unlikely hits. His 1988 version of the Tao Te Ching sold more than 900,000 copies in the U.S. Several of his other popular translations, which include The Gospel According to Jesus, Gilgamesh and poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, have each sold more than 100,000 copies.

>Some of his translations aren't, strictly speaking, translations, but adaptations. He knows Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, German, Italian and Danish, but he's also rewritten works in languages he doesn't know—Chinese, Sanskrit and Babylonian. His interpretations of sacred texts have been criticized by evangelical Christians and "very irate Taoists," says Mr. Mitchell.

>There have been plenty of English translations of "The Iliad," including several published in the 20th century. Mr. Mitchell says he felt he could do better. "I've never been able to read 'The Iliad,' actually, until I sat down to do this," he says. "I could never get past book one in any translation. I found the language very dull."

[Anonymous No.16484320]

He's right.

[Anonymous No.16484347]

>>16484315
Who cares lmao

[Anonymous No.16484351]

>>16484347
People who are interested in literature.

[Anonymous No.16484412]

I remember when I watched hollywood films, it always amazed me how the Americans proyected their culture into every direction in time and space. It didn't matter if the movie was set in Ancient Egypt or Ancient Rome, they were all Americans, and speaked as such. Glad it keeps happening. Keep up the good work USA, clearly you're the epythome of human civilization.

[Anonymous No.16484435]

eh it's not as bad as this review would suggest

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Iliad.html?id=oMliAkbGOPUC

still would prefer some more literal.

[Anonymous No.16484445]

>>16484435
>some more literal

*something more literal

[Anonymous No.16484824]

>>16484351
People who are interested in literature wouldn't care about some random new poplit translation nobody will read. They'd be too busy reading.

[Anonymous No.16484858]

>flavor of the month translation of the iliad
Who cares he wants illiad to be more modern and shit let him have his retelling.

[Anonymous No.16484870]

>>16484824
>nobody will read.

[Anonymous No.16484975]

>>16484315
>"I've never been able to read 'The Iliad,' actually, until I sat down to do this," he says. "I could never get past book one in any translation. I found the language very dull."