Fall \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Samhain Moon<\/p>\n
I’ve picked up the pace in translating. \u00a0Not a lot. \u00a0 But I have. \u00a0My intention is to time myself from now on, figure out how I can increase my speed. \u00a0That will be important, as I said before, if I’m to translate the whole Metamorphoses. \u00a0(Ovid)<\/p>\n
You might ask, why? \u00a0A few years ago I decided to read classics for a whole year. \u00a0I read the Koran, Faust, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and the Metamorphoses among others. \u00a0As I did this, I also read commentaries and essays on these works to give myself a broader and deeper perspective. \u00a0When I got to the material on the Metamorphoses, I realized it stood at a critical juncture between ancient Greek religion (and, I imagine now, the Egyptian influence on the Greek) and Western civilization in the common era.<\/p>\n
During the Renaissance it was Ovid’s work that moved Greek mythology into the mainstream of Western intellectual life. \u00a0The older sources were either unavailable at the time, as yet undiscovered, or simply missing. \u00a0That’s why the versions of the mythological corpus you know are most often Ovid’s version.<\/p>\n
(Banquet of the Gods-Frans Floris)<\/p>\n
If I could imprint Ovid’s stories into my brain, then I would have a vast resource, one with deep resonance in the entire Western literary tradition. \u00a0How to do that? \u00a0I had always wanted to learn a language but had told myself I couldn’t. \u00a0How about learning Latin, then translating the Metamorphoses? It could vanquish a self doubt, allow a peek behind the curtain of translation and help me absorb these wonderful stories. \u00a0All in the same project.<\/p>\n
It’s not been, nor is it now, easy. \u00a0It is hard part of the time, difficult the rest. \u00a0But I’ve learned to enjoy that. \u00a0There are new insights often and results that I know are mine. \u00a0I’m learning the stories and advancing towards the skill level I need to go the distance. \u00a0This is the fourth year of learning and translating. \u00a0Many more to go.<\/p>\n
BTW: \u00a0There is, somewhere in this, the novel I want to write. \u00a0A big one, a fantasy, because that’s how I think when it comes to fiction, but one deep in this material. \u00a0What it will be like, I don’t know, but I keep looking for fleeting images as I work. \u00a0Perhaps behind the story of the golden age? \u00a0Philemon and Baucus? \u00a0Medea? \u00a0Pentheus? \u00a0Perhaps in Ovid himself? \u00a0First century C.E. Rome? \u00a0All of these? \u00a0I don’t know. \u00a0But it’s the Moby Dick I’ve set sail to find.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fall \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Samhain Moon I’ve picked up the pace in translating. \u00a0Not a lot. \u00a0 But I have. \u00a0My intention … Continue reading Still At It<\/span>