A few weeks ago, one of my pals asked me for advice on picking a translation of the Divine Comedy
. I forgot to post it, but recalled it this week under typically convoluted circumstances.
Early this year, I reread the Iliad
, so I decided to get back to the Odyssey this week. (The logic of that statement doesn’t need explanation, right?) Rather than read my Lattimore
translation, I decided to try Robert Fagles’
version, because it has larger print. (I’m getting old.)
The problem is, the Fagles translation seems a little too “poetic” to me, as though it’s been sweetened for the reader. So I may have to go back to Lattimore, tiny print and all. Or maybe the Fitzgerald
, but I recall hearing horror stories about that.
Anyway, this reminded me of my buddy’s request: Got any suggestions for a good Dante translation?
I recall that Sayers
is supposed to be the pits, and I picked up Pinsky’s recent translation of the Inferno
on the cheap in a used bookstore a few months ago, but I really have zero expertise in picking a good translation of that work.
So help a brother out!
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I have always liked the John Ciardi translation. This is NOT what we read at SJC (can’t for the life of me remember what translation we did read there), but I read this translation in high school and loved it because the footnotes are superb (you know, all the historical context and backstory and good gossipy stuff that we ignored at SJC).
Also, an amazon search reveals that Ciardi wrote a book of kids’ poetry illustrated by Edward Gorey, so it seems like you can’t go wrong with this guy.
As above, I have heard good things about the Ciardi translation. I remember his commentaries on language fondly when he contributed them to NPR.
Translations for Homer? Heresy…..
Fagles strikes the best balance between the extreme and the literal. To me, the length of the line is important, as the dactylic hexameter is a mouthful, so I don’t dig anything four feet or fewer per line.
For a laugh, look up Alexander Pope’s translation of either of the poem. The kids get a real hoot out of it, but I think his achievement is monumental (he got paid well!).
I used Sawyers translation when I taught Purgatory the past few years; Jane, who has the true grasp of matters Italian, thinks much of Pinsky (whom I dvr’ed on Book TV a while back, giving a lecture on Frost and Williams).
I would never tell my husband he’s wrong, but I actually prefer Ciardi’s translation. He admittedly does crazy stuff with the Italian to make the terza rima work, but it has excellent notes and diagrams. A colleague recommended Anthony Esolen’s translation (2002) to me this fall. I’ve only read his Inferno so far, but it’s lovely. (Well, if hell can be lovely.) I still think I’ll teach with Ciardi’s though.
More suggestions: http://jonaquino.blogspot.com/2009/04/best-epic-translations-lattimore.html