Comment on The Claudyssey: A line-for-line translation of Homer's Odyssey by Claude Fable 5parentComments−dbuxton1moThere's no such thing as a "timeless" translation - if you read something written by Victorians you'll get all sorts of overlaid assumptions and biases, just ones that are unfamiliar−paytonjjones1moFor me, that unfamiliarity is precisely the point of reading something ancient.−Bootvis1moThen you need to read the original. A translator is a product of their time.−suddenlybananas1moThey didn't say they wanted a timeless translation.−adamdb1moContinually revising a text to be modern and context-aware would indeed make it timeless.
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There's no such thing as a "timeless" translation - if you read something written by Victorians you'll get all sorts of overlaid assumptions and biases, just ones that are unfamiliar
For me, that unfamiliarity is precisely the point of reading something ancient.
Then you need to read the original. A translator is a product of their time.
They didn't say they wanted a timeless translation.
Continually revising a text to be modern and context-aware would indeed make it timeless.