Homer's "As I lay dying the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyelids for me as I descended into Hades" is transformed into "But she, that whore, she turned her back on me, well on my way to Death--she even lacked the heart to seal my eyes with her hand or close my jaws" in Robert Fagles' translation.
Hmmm.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
(See also Musee des Beaux Arts ) As far as mental anguish goes, the old painters were no fools. They understood how the mind, the freakiest ...
-
When I finished Kevin Brockmeier's A Brief History of the Dead last spring I immediately did a search to see if the Coca-Cola Corp. had...
I was disappointed at Fagles' translation of this line. In my opinion, the word Hades should have been left in. Plus, the line "As I Lay Dying" is missed. It was the inspiration for Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying."
ReplyDelete=(
Me too, Leo, it always disappoints me to see how shallow the waters around the Odyssey can be. The woman with the dog eyes is just that: a woman whose eyes are large and sad but loving, accepting, trusting. She can't bear to see her lover go; can't be a part of his leaving, even though he is on the road to hell. Why does everything need to be a metaphor? I love your shoulders, your arms your lips. From just such ports sailed Homer's ships.
ReplyDelete