Ahhh, those ancient Greeks!
Welcome fellow traveller!
The purpose of this page is to help me broaden my contact with the ancient Greek texts and to help so far as I can, all those who are students of these texts or have some interest in them.
It is my strong wish to eventually translate all of the extant works of every one of these brilliant writers to the best of my ability, bringing them as close as possible to the modern English eye and ear.
There is a surfeit of excellent translations available of all these dramaturges already and I know that my efforts will add to that surfeit as well as to the befuddlement of those who search for the “definitive translation.” The “befuddled” searching for the “definitive translation” will continue to be befuddled no matter how many more translations are placed on the shelves, because such a thing can never exist. As language changes, as it evolves with the ever-tilling of its cultural ground; as the ethics, the morals and the philosophies of people are questioned, reformed and, in many cases, deformed and deconstructed, so must any work which asks us to think, should be looked at with fresher senses. Translators, therefore, should keep their eyes and ears open for these changes and revisit what was created a long time ago.
Translators aside even, authors of any genre will write differently today from their colleagues separated by time and place. Their tools –words and thoughts- are indisputably different, even if in the most subtle ways.
So far as my own work is concerned my translation of Aristophanes’ plays is a good example of what one can do with his words to make sure that the modern audience receive the same messages, the same humour (the word also means “mood,” “disposition”) that Aristophanes’ own audience received.
It is about time –is one of my “beefs” for example- that we’ve stopped being churlish and miserly with Aristophanes’ wit by not translating his words as they were uttered in his 5th century Athenian theatre, resorting, instead to what might be called “politically correct” language or “language that may be acceptable in polite company.” In this century, a time when “free speech” is boasted about and encouraged, there should be no reason for a word for example to be translated as “making love.” This is not what Aristophanes’ audience would have heard.
Seeking to make my translations as “stage ready” and as “class room ready” as possible (both the Ancient Greek language classroom as well as the Drama classroom) I’ve made them different to those I've seen so far, in at least three ways:
1) I've tried to dispose of all interfering erudition and unimportant scholia by incorporating, as delicately and as unobtrusively as is possible, what I consider information necessary for the better understanding of the play into the main text of the plays, rather than pepper them with irksome footnotes. Whilst the notes supplied by other publications at the foot of the page and at the end of the book are often invaluable scholia for the student of Aristophanes and his era, I must, in this instance defer to them and allow the serious scholar to seek these out. They are well known, often discussed and much acclaimed. My wish here is to make these plays an easy read and of an easy access to the actor, to the director and to their audience, as well as the student of ancient Greek theatre, and the ancient Greek language. Footnotes are for the classroom, not for the theatre.
2) I have diminished the role of the Chorus significantly by fusing it, where possible into the dialogue, taking particular care, of course, not to omit or distort any parts of their song. This makes the plays much faster and smoother to the eye as well as the ear, more entertaining to the modern sense of humour and allows Aristophanes' message to become far more immediate; and so far as Aristophanic plays are concerned, I advise (but only timidly so) Thespians to stay away from song and dance, a practice which is susceptible to turning these plays into something out of Brecht’s “alienation” theatre.
3) The reader -or rather the audience and all thespians involved with their production- will also find that I've disposed of all bawdlerisms, unworkable metaphors and obscure allusions, letting the modern audience hear what I suggest the fifth century Athenian would be hearing at the Dionysiac festival were he (and, most assuredly, she) able to speak English! In other words, the language is as salacious in my translation as it was in the original and my directions are a reflection of that language.
I invite my visitors to check these translations and to send me their comments -in all honesty and in the certainty that I shall pay them my fullest attention.
My translation of the tragedians is again as close to the original as I could ever hope to accomplish. I have stayed away from running off with my own poetic virtuosity as I have seen on many other translations and stayed as much as I could with the message delivered by each of them, a message which I hope to expand upon at some time in the not too distant future.
I have also translated some of Sappho's wonderful poetry, as well as some selections from a variety of ancients, concerning love and booze. These translations, too, I believe, get closer to the original text and purpose of the author than I saw in other translations so far and their reader will find that the sense of fun and passion in these few poems and fragments emerge just that little bit clearer in my work.
I welcome all comments on all of translations of these Ancient Greek texts. And hope, more than anything that their reader will enjoy them.
The visitor will find my efforts along with those of Tony Kline (a fellow translator of a Latin proclivity) at:
Poetry in Translation
All the works can be downloaded from there in WORD, PDF and HTML zipped formats.
The site is effusive with translations of some of the best works in Literature and effulgent with the thoughts of some of the best minds ever recorded.
All works may be downloaded at no charge at all to anyone who has no commercial use in mind. Those with commerce in mind need to ask for permission from the translator.
George Theodoridis, B.A., M.A. (Prel.), Dip.Ed.
(Univ. of Melbourne, Australia)
From Aristophanes:
(Thesmophoriazousae)
From Aischylus:
From Euripides:
From Sophocles:
Poems From Lyra Graeca:
Original Poetry:
Screenplays and Radio Plays:
The above works are covered by this:
My Favorite Links
Last updated: 4th-May-2008
