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Sallyfemina's avatar

Emily Wilson's new translation of "The Odyssey" doesn't change any of the action, but puts it in modern English and it rolls right along in rhythm. Being a woman, her word choices favor Penelope, her handmaidens, and the other women, and are... not super-impressed with Odysseus. It begins, "Tell me about a complicated man, Muse."

I say new cuz it's only 6 years old, which is like a fraction of a second ago compared to the original book.

It gets low ratings from men, but I loved it. I'd never made it through the book before despite trying several times. This one, it took less than a week. The male friend who was a retired professor of Ancient Greek lent it to me. He thought it was awesome, and of course he'd read the original and many previous translations. But y'know, he wasn't a misogynist.

Anyway, recommended to those here.

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Ellie Ireland's avatar

i love emily wilson’s translations ! i conquered her odyssey, still waiting to find the courage to break into the iliad

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Sallyfemina's avatar

I haven't read the Iliad either, same reason. That and there's nobody to lend it to me.

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Željko St.'s avatar

Maybe someone smacked (during the war) Odysseus in the head with a hammer(?) and he suffered amnesia? 🤕 🤔 After twenty years his memory miraculously returned and he remembered that he has a wife. 🤯 It's a possibility. 🤭

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Željko St.'s avatar

This could be good base for a solid turkish soap opera. ☺️

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Ellie Ireland's avatar

love this !! thanks for reading:)

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Simon Rae's avatar

Re your "anti-weaving (I’m coining this new term thank you)"… had you not been so bold perhaps a variation on Knitting ~ Tinking (to undo knitting to correct a fault) might have sufficed.

Weave ~ Evaew?

OK, maybe not! Let's stick with your new word.

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Ellie Ireland's avatar

haha, this gave me a good laugh !! thanks for reading:))

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Mia Breeze's avatar

Love your storytelling , so fresh and witty ❤️.

Funnily enough, immediately prior to reading this, I had just read this piece

https://open.substack.com/pub/arteveryday/p/john-everett-millais-ophelia?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=10iiay

wherein Dante Gabriel Rossetti's ( painter of your last featured artwork) love life is mentioned. I thought the two articles paired nicely in a way - both strange love stories, one with a happier ending than the other.

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Ellie Ireland's avatar

ooh i can't wait to check it out! thanks for reading <3

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Chris Grenda's avatar

Another great post. I will be using anti-weaving whenever possible (albeit probably not often). I also have a question. Why weren't all these nobles, that are creeping on Penelope, fighting in the Trojan War? Maybe it wouldn't have lasted so long.

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Ellie Ireland's avatar

this is an excellent question !! grown-up youths who were too young to have been obliged to fight at the time of helen's kidnapping?? very interesting... thanks so much for reading !!

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Mariella Hunt's avatar

You should start a podcast. I feel like it would be a hit!

Great post! And I hope you’re having a great Advent 🤍

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Dec 9
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Ellie Ireland's avatar

thank you for reading!! <3

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