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What’s the cr Odyssey translation? Fitzgerald? Lattimore? Fagles?…

...
Ricky
  07/16/26
it's ... complicated.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
  07/16/26
https://www.reddit.com/r/classics/comments/yrj49k/comparison...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
  07/16/26
The Wilson translation seems the most IFNB-friendly, based o...
The Maine Politician?s Assaults
  07/16/26
would make a great IFNB epic if only Hollywood has the coura...
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  07/16/26
Fagles
The Penis
  07/16/26
the credited translation is Avi Coinblatt
The Rumpole Omnibus
  07/16/26
https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1536602493672.jpg
CapTTTainFalcon
  07/16/26
...
Ricky
  07/16/26
Fagles Fitzgerald is way too dry
The Maine Politician?s Assaults
  07/16/26
His translation of Sophocles is excellent too
The Penis
  07/16/26
cr I think I have the penguin classics theban plays somewher...
The Maine Politician?s Assaults
  07/16/26
sing to me of the man, muse the man of twists and turns dr...
CapTTTainFalcon
  07/16/26
Emily Wilson (2018):"Tell me about a complicated man. /...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
  07/16/26
Directly translates poly (many) tropos (turns) as "comp...
The Penis
  07/16/26
I accidentally grabbed the Emily Wilson one and HFS that was...
Ricky
  07/16/26
that's why up above i said the issue was ... "complicat...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
  07/16/26
Calling a man "complicated" is so femoid coded
The Penis
  07/16/26
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/health/chronic-disease-ma...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
  07/16/26
GFD
Ricky
  07/16/26
there's a lot to unpack
CapTTTainFalcon
  07/16/26
There are a lot of good ones. Fagles is the looser but more ...
lex
  07/16/26
Lattimore and it isn't close. But T.E. Shaw is the most PRE...
lfo
  07/16/26
Pope is incredible Pick one of the other major prose versio...
which dad?
  07/16/26
He has to be the greatest English versifier who ever lived. ...
The Penis
  07/16/26


Poast new message in this thread



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Date: July 16th, 2026 11:19 AM
Author: Ricky



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50003858)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 11:22 AM
Author: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


it's ... complicated.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50003868)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 11:28 AM
Author: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


https://www.reddit.com/r/classics/comments/yrj49k/comparison_of_odyssey_translations/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50003893)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 12:58 PM
Author: The Maine Politician?s Assaults

The Wilson translation seems the most IFNB-friendly, based on that excerpt

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004105)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:05 PM
Author: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


would make a great IFNB epic if only Hollywood has the courage. think of the Iliad scenes with Achilles and Patroclus. or in this Nolan version of the Odyssey they could have the soldiers spending the evening with their pal Sinon only to discover that he is a man with a vagina.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004258)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 11:58 AM
Author: The Penis

Fagles

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50003978)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 12:37 PM
Author: The Rumpole Omnibus ((zurich is stained))

the credited translation is Avi Coinblatt

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004065)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 1:09 PM
Author: CapTTTainFalcon

https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1536602493672.jpg

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004126)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:04 PM
Author: Ricky



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004257)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 12:56 PM
Author: The Maine Politician?s Assaults

Fagles

Fitzgerald is way too dry

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004098)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 1:03 PM
Author: The Penis

His translation of Sophocles is excellent too

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004114)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 1:09 PM
Author: The Maine Politician?s Assaults

cr I think I have the penguin classics theban plays somewhere that uses his translation

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004124)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 1:06 PM
Author: CapTTTainFalcon

sing to me of the man, muse

the man of twists and turns

driven time and again off course

one he had plundered the hallowed heights of troy

many cities of men he saw

and learned their minds

many pains he suffered

heartsick on the open sea

fighting to save his life and bring his men home

but he could not save them, hard as he strove

the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all, the blind fools

they devoured the cattle of the sun

and the sun god wiped from sight the day of their return

launch out on the story, muse, daughter of zeus

start from where you will

sing for our time too

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004120)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 2:06 PM
Author: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


Emily Wilson (2018):"Tell me about a complicated man. / Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost / When he had wrecked the holy town of Troy..."Focus: Fast, modern, and strictly adheres to iambic pentameter. It directly translates the Greek word polytropos as "complicated".

Robert Fagles (1996):"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns / driven time and again off course, once he had plundered / the hallowed heights of Troy..."Focus: Grandiose, cinematic, and highly poetic. It captures the epic scale while using "twists and turns" to describe Odysseus's wily nature.

Richmond Lattimore (1965):"Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven / far journeys, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy..."Focus: Academic and literal. It closely mirrors the original Greek sentence structure, making it a favorite for university study.

Robert Fitzgerald (1961):"Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story / of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, / after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy."Focus: Lyrical and theatrical, often compared to Shakespearean verse. It frames Odysseus as a master of both battle and wits.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004261)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:15 PM
Author: The Penis

Directly translates poly (many) tropos (turns) as "complicated".

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004288)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:05 PM
Author: Ricky

I accidentally grabbed the Emily Wilson one and HFS that was embarrassing just to read the first page

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004259)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:09 PM
Author: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


that's why up above i said the issue was ... "complicated."

rather than praise Odysseus for his many-ways skills (polytropos) she goes with something you could almost hear her say in a feminist vocal fry: it's complicated.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004270)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:18 PM
Author: The Penis

Calling a man "complicated" is so femoid coded

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004290)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 2:33 PM
Author: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/health/chronic-disease-maha-kennedy.html

Is There Really a Chronic Disease Epidemic? It’s Complicated.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to return the nation to a time when he believes Americans were healthier. Not so fast, many researchers say.

=====

Supporting Iran in the World Cup? It’s Complicated.

June 26, 2026

By Bill Saporito

Mr. Saporito is an editor for Times Opinion who has attended seven World Cups — five men’s and two women’s — as a reporter and spectator.

====

The White House’s report criticized Ms. Hartig for several exhibitions at the museum. They included the 2020 exhibition “Girlhood (It’s Complicated),” which had pages from a transgender child’s diary; the 2023 exhibition “Entertainment Nation,” which described Alexander Hamilton as “flawed,” in part because he owned slaves; and an initiative that had museum staff traveling to places including Mexico City to study the work of immigrant rights activists.



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004315)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 2:37 PM
Author: Ricky

GFD

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004326)



Reply Favorite

Date: July 16th, 2026 2:54 PM
Author: CapTTTainFalcon

there's a lot to unpack

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004338)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:08 PM
Author: lex

There are a lot of good ones. Fagles is the looser but more vivid classic, while lattimore is more stately, I would say. Not a classic, but I really like the recent one by stephen mitchell.

Do not, under any circumstances, read Wilson. Her Iliad is better, but not by much

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004265)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:33 PM
Author: lfo

Lattimore and it isn't close.

But T.E. Shaw is the most PREFTIGIOUS and Pope is the most STRIVER.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004316)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 2:54 PM
Author: which dad?

Pope is incredible

Pick one of the other major prose versions based on vibes and it will be fine

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004337)



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Date: July 16th, 2026 3:12 PM
Author: The Penis

He has to be the greatest English versifier who ever lived. That said, it is really difficult for me to get into the Augustan style and register. Haven't been able to get through it. But I'm sure if you force yourself to adjust it's 180.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5883205&forum_id=2,5#50004357)