Emily Wilson's translation is way better, more modern and adequate to present-day readers and, probably more context aware.

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spinchange 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I love Wilson's work and take it as inspiration. Incidentally, I spotted an error in the first printing of her Odyssey that the publisher acknowledged on twitter and fixed in subsequent printings. I am not a professional, just an obsessive with a special interest. In a spirit of intellectual honesty, the fact that she is reportedly re-translating The Odyssey again is an indication that one of perfect adequacy might be elusive.

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paytonjjones 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Maybe it's just me, but "modern" and "context-aware" are the two things I most want to avoid when seeking out a translation of an ancient text.

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dbuxton 13 hours ago | parent [-]

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

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paytonjjones 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For me, that unfamiliarity is precisely the point of reading something ancient.

	▲	Bootvis 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Then you need to read the original. A translator is a product of their time.

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suddenlybananas 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They didn't say they wanted a timeless translation.

	▲	adamdb 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Continually revising a text to be modern and context-aware would indeed make it timeless.