“The epic has 12109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, sometimes called Homeric hexameter—a metre with six metrical feet. The form of hexameter is catalectic, meaning that it lacks an expected syllable in the last foot. Each line has between twelve and seventeen syllables and generally forms a grammatically complete sentence.”
Im wrapping a lot of that up into "intent". If they intended it to rhyme, then you will necessarily "lose something" in translation. The same with elegant word choice to fit within certain metre, etc. Sure, a direct translation might be faithful to a more esoteric word choice but it completely loses sight of why that word was chosen in the mother language.
Comments
Plus style, plus, certainly in the case of the Odyssey, rhythm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre_(poetry) ). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey#Narrative_and_language:
“The epic has 12109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, sometimes called Homeric hexameter—a metre with six metrical feet. The form of hexameter is catalectic, meaning that it lacks an expected syllable in the last foot. Each line has between twelve and seventeen syllables and generally forms a grammatically complete sentence.”
Im wrapping a lot of that up into "intent". If they intended it to rhyme, then you will necessarily "lose something" in translation. The same with elegant word choice to fit within certain metre, etc. Sure, a direct translation might be faithful to a more esoteric word choice but it completely loses sight of why that word was chosen in the mother language.