I started reading Inferno a short while ago
The translation has lengthy explanations about every single line (not even kidding). At first I ignored them, but I'm starting to fear I'll be missing a lot if I keep doing that.
What translation did you read? How important are the references in your opinion?
>>7840738
The Hollander translation was my first experience with the Divine Comedy and for the first half of Inferno I read every annotation for any lines that had them. This made the poem a real slog. It was only after I started ignoring them that I was able to enjoy what I was reading. The Divine Comedy is something that really should be read multiple times to fully appreciate it and those annotations will still be there for future reads where you'll likely find them more valuable. If it turns out that The Divine Comedy isn't something you want to read again then you'll probably be thankful you skipped those annotations anyway.
>>7841302
>If it turns out that The Divine Comedy isn't something you want to read again
>there are people on /lit/ who only read the commedia once
lmao fucking plebs
>>7840738
You can read Dante and understand him at his most important level without getting the references.
Don't worry about the foot notes for now. You can come back to Dante again and again as you go on studying and reading through life, and get more and more each time.
>>7840738
The font on that cover makes me rage
Great, thanks guys
>>7841306
Is there one of those charts for The Iliad/The Odyssey?
>>7842493
no but Lattimore is best imo. he uses 6-beat lines but no strict meter. it's great.
fitzgerald is good if you like iambic pentameter.
fagles' trannies have the frayed edges, which are the most absurd thing on planet earth, so stay away from those.
Pope's tranny is fun, and in heroic couplets, but strays far from the original Homer
I have 3 different translations, which should I start with? I've got Cary, Longfellow, and Norton. What benefits does each have?
>>7842508
>6-beat lines but no strict meter
What does that mean? Elaborate with an example. Also how many bits of lines does Fitzgerald used and what is iambic?
