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nastya 's Reviews > Metamorphoses
Metamorphoses
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nastya 's review
bookshelves: translated, 1700s-and-earlier, collection, greeks, fantasy-classics
Jun 02, 2020
bookshelves: translated, 1700s-and-earlier, collection, greeks, fantasy-classics
So previously I read the Horace Gregory translation and adored it. This time I decided to try David Raeburn's for Penguin classics and I’m afraid it failed to capture the magic I felt before. It is a much easier read, for sure, but I think poetry was missed in this translation. Which makes sense considering Gregory was a poet and Raeburn was into the performance aspects of classical poetry but apparently reading about Jove raping poor women and then Juno punishing said women for it is not doing it for me without the magic of poetry.
I was curious if we were getting new translations and according to the article on lithub, Jhumpa Lahiri has teamed up with Princeton classics professor Yelena Baraz on a new translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses for Penguin and I’m definitely reading it when it comes out. I’m so curious to see how these women will tackle the material.
So my advice would be to try different translations and find the one that works for you.
P.S. I know nothing about poetry, translations or Latin.
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If you love mythology you need to read this. P.S. Gods are horny...
I was curious if we were getting new translations and according to the article on lithub, Jhumpa Lahiri has teamed up with Princeton classics professor Yelena Baraz on a new translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses for Penguin and I’m definitely reading it when it comes out. I’m so curious to see how these women will tackle the material.
So my advice would be to try different translations and find the one that works for you.
P.S. I know nothing about poetry, translations or Latin.
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If you love mythology you need to read this. P.S. Gods are horny...
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Reading Progress
December 11, 2019
– Shelved
March 27, 2020
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Started Reading
June 2, 2020
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Finished Reading
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Mwanamali
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Jan 17, 2022 10:25AM
When are the gods never horny. If they aren't horny they're punishing humans
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The quality of a translation really does affect the reading experience so much! Great review, Nastya! :)
mwana wrote: "When are the gods never horny. If they aren't horny they're punishing humans"and female gods are ruthless. How about when Minerva was bested by Arachne in weaving and beat her. Then the girl hang herself and Minerva made her into a spider. I mean what a sore loser.
Yun wrote: "The quality of a translation really does affect the reading experience so much! Great review, Nastya! :)"thank you, Yun! and not even the quality( I mean, I don't know Latin and how it is supposed to sound in the original and how faithful this translation is), but just the matter of taste. I've been to the Catholic church just a few times in my life - for some concert with an organ and then Notre-Dame, so I'm clueless about Latin! :)
nastya wrote: "mwana wrote: "When are the gods never horny. If they aren't horny they're punishing humans"and female gods are ruthless. How about when Minerva was bested by Arachne in weaving and beat her. Then..."
Athena turned Medusa into a snakehead after she was raped by Poseidon. "Sore loser" doesn't begin to cover those assholes. It's why in Madeline Miller's Circe, when Circe put Athena in her place I was over the moon.
Or how about when she decided that Orestes had a right to kill Clytemnestra for killing Agamemnon who killed her daughter for some wind? I mean, I'm with Clytemnestra. And then Athena decided that because she herself was born from Zeus' forehead or whatever and that means that father is more important! And how about her hate for poor Troy and strange obsession with murderous Odysseus? I was hoping that suitors' families would kill his sorry ass!
Ooh, Jhumpa Lahiri! I’m also interested in that version
nastya wrote: "Or how about when she decided that Orestes had a right to kill Clytemnestra for killing Agamemnon who killed her daughter for some wind? I mean, I'm with Clytemnestra. And then Athena decided that ..."Didn't his son kill him?
mwana wrote: "Didn't his son kill him?"Not according to Aeschylus
Aaaaaa, I tried reading this last year but couldn't keep up and had to go through looong Wikipedia articles for every other line! I was expecting erotism and all I got was brain soup. Ugh, maybe I'll try it again this year. Your review is very encouraging.
Prerna wrote: "Aaaaaa, I tried reading this last year but couldn't keep up and had to go through looong Wikipedia articles for every other line! I was expecting erotism and all I got was brain soup. Ugh, maybe I'll try it again this year. Your review is very encouraging."Thank you, Prerna! I mean, the Penguin version read to me like a summary on wikipedia, and if so, why not read wikipedia on the story you are interested in, right? It did nothing for me. Maybe wait for a new translation by Jhumpa Lahiri?
Yes! I just found out Jhumpa Lahiri knows ancient Greek and Latin, and wow, does her talent have no bounds?
Prerna wrote: "Yes! I just found out Jhumpa Lahiri knows ancient Greek and Latin, and wow, does her talent have no bounds?"and looks like it was her passion project for some time. I'm so excited
