Dr Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate Homer’s The Odyssey into English, found that many men before her had added sexist or misogynist terms that never existed in the original Greek. She is a writer, classicist and translator who is currently working on the Iliad and Plato. So of course some rando man on twitter (whose profile literally says “An expert in nothing.”, lol) came to challenge her. The response is great and tumblr user sinbrook expands on why her translation is more accurate:
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Source: sinbrook
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I like these choices that you cite. “Complicated” is an excellent translation of “polytropos” in my opinion. It lets in all kinds of connotations which the original Greek word does also. So it is a good equivalent. I hesitate to agree with your comment about slaves. I don’t think the original text employs the word for slave which is “doulos” but I’d have to check that out. These people are called servants, not slaves. So there I at least initially disagree. In the case of Eurycleia or Eumaeus, they were technically slaves but I don’t think they were described that way. Both are given the highest respect in the text because they are deeply loyal and, in fact, they are the truest friends to Penelope and Odysseus. I think the Odyssey was radical in this way: to give respect and attention to people of the lower classes. So in a way it is an early voice against the concept of slavery.
I can understand where you’re coming from in regard to the slaves in the Odyssey. However I dont think Homer intended his depiction of good slaves as a condemnation of slavery. Odysseus kills the slaves that “betrayed him” (they served new masters, and had no choice in the matter), and rewards the ones that aid him. In fact this “true friend slave” is simply just like the “part of the family” excuse used by southerners in the USA to take the sting out of their past. It allows slavery to be seen as ok and humane, since Odysseus cares for his life long slaves, and they love him back.
Dr. Wilson is certainly technically correct to call them slaves, but here is an example of *her* bias (not a female one, mind you, but a modern one).
The term “slave” means something now that it *did not mean* back in Homer’s time. That’s not to say they weren’t forced to do things against their wills. A slave back then could be killed with no punishment, flogged and humiliated and all the bad things you can imagine.
But slavery back then was not generational. It was not permanent. Many slaves were abused, but many others earned or bought their way to freedom. In Rome, slavery was a pathway to citizenship. Gladiators were revered and treated very well (if they were at all successful) because their owners knew they brought in a lot of money (and they had fans). Slaves had days off. They had freedoms. Hell, at one point, the city of Rome itself was basically governed by slaves because they were the ones handling all the financial decisions.
As was said, you cannot translate in a vacuum. Dr. Wilson made choices as well, and it’s quite likely the choices she made were intended to shock and get her attention. That’s not to say they aren’t more accurate or should not be made, but it’s quite likely many of the choices she made remain questionable. It would, however, take scholars to decide which ones.
I love deep thinking and mentally stimulating discourse. Is any premise, regardless of the gender of the purporter, subject to biases based upon that person’s experiences and perceptions? Thus making a translation skewed in any way possible? Not an argument, a question posed to provoke thought. For I too am intrigued and wish to learn more than that which is on the surface.
I believe truthfully no translation can perfectly capture the original words.
I’m reminded of the complaints Martin Luther made of translating the Bible into German because the very MEANING of words is different in Greek, Latin, German, Etc.
I feel every time we have to translate something, a little bit of the original meaning is lost and a little bit of the translator fills in the gaps. I also believe with research and a lot of attention those gaps can be quite small, and to me it sounds like Dr. Wilson put some real effort into connecting with source text. I look forward to reading her translation.