Is this the best translation?
the japanese
>>7480483
Fagles and Lattimore are fine, stay away from Lombardo.
>>7480551
What about Rieu?
>>7480483
Based Fagles is #1 m8. You can't beat it without reading it in Greek.
>>7480483
Fitzgerald is the best Odyssey, but Fagles isn't bad.
>>7481050
can you elaborate on the difference between them? I am looking to read odyssey mostly for practical reasons, as in to get the most out of it. To read it for its prose seems futile considering the things that will be lost in translation.
>>7481081
If you're reading it to learn from it, then Fagles isn't an especially good choice. With respect to the apparatus of his edition, his line numbers don't match both the Greek and the line numbers of other translators, which is a problem if you ever decide to compare. As far as quality of translation, he's interested in appealing to a modern poetic sensibility, which is entertaining in its own right, sure, but that means taking liberties in order to specifically appeal to readers of the last two and a half decades who aren't interested in the Odyssey as such, but want to cool war poem to wank off to.
Lattimore is one of the more straightforward translators I've encountered. Fitzgerald makes use of poetic word choices, but choices that are pretty reasonable with respect to the underlying Greek.
Lombardo is *not* as bad as Fagles.
Lattimore is in my opinion the most beautiful and objectively the most direct translation, but he's dense and difficult. I only recommend him to ambitious readers.
Fitzgerald is the guy
>>7480483
I enjoyed it. But I just read it because I wanted to, not for study.
>>7482590
The reason I prefer Fagels is in large part because he seems to preserve the general cadence of the Greek. Sure he's not writing in dactylic hexameter, but his lines come off a lot closer to the feel of reading Odyssey in Greek than does Fitzgerald, and it does it without being cheesy like Pope.
I can't speak for Lattimore, but I've never thought of the Odyssey as particularly dense or difficult. Not saying there's not an immense amount of substance, but the way it comes across in Greek (and in Fagels) is more fun than anything.
>>7483775
How would you know that his lines come off a lot closer to the feel of reading in Greek? You don't know Ancient Greek lol.
>>7483778
I did my undergrad in classics. My adviser was a homeric scholar. Her focus was the Iliad, but we also read the Odyssey. In Greek.
>>7480483
A classic.
Fitzgerald odyssey
Fagles Iliad
>>7483234
>kyklopes
Why can't he just translate it as fucking Cyclopes??? God that irks me so much.
>>7484800
Because the original work isn't latin you plebeian scum; fuck outta here
