The polysymphony of Homeric poetry is one of the most beautiful and intriguing things about it. Unlike the magnum opus of a composer which is written to be heard and not necessarily read, both the Illiad and the Odyssey are poems that are written to be read and heard. They are like tapestries with the poem's rhapsodies intertwining with each other. Moreover, each line is not necessarily a single thread rather it may be only part of a thread. If we break it down even further the interplay between the phonology and morphology gives us a subtlety that transcends all attempts at translation. The inflections of the Homeric language gives us something that is akin to birdsong of such birds like the white-throated sparrow in which a new song was detected in British Columbia then spread eastward. Moreover, it is very interesting to note that the words rhapsody, tapestry, and poems are can be traced back to Ancient Greek. Rhapsody is of course related to rhapsodist who is the one who sews the song. Tapistry may actually be of pre-Greek origin but in Ancient Greek it does carpet, rug, or mat all of which could be hung on a wall. Poem is derived from ποιέω or perhaps there was once a digamma ποιϝέω. In either event it simply means I make. All this boils down to that the reader makes something different every time they read it aloud or otherwise.
The paperback of Wilson's Odyssey has "He failed, and for their own mistakes they died", bringing back, even if not fully, the σφετέρῃσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν of the Greek.
I love the word atasthalia! There is a cool use of it in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. On translating Homer people might enjoy this and many other pieces in the new journal Ancient Exchanges: https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/ancient/issues/departures/iliad/
The polysymphony of Homeric poetry is one of the most beautiful and intriguing things about it. Unlike the magnum opus of a composer which is written to be heard and not necessarily read, both the Illiad and the Odyssey are poems that are written to be read and heard. They are like tapestries with the poem's rhapsodies intertwining with each other. Moreover, each line is not necessarily a single thread rather it may be only part of a thread. If we break it down even further the interplay between the phonology and morphology gives us a subtlety that transcends all attempts at translation. The inflections of the Homeric language gives us something that is akin to birdsong of such birds like the white-throated sparrow in which a new song was detected in British Columbia then spread eastward. Moreover, it is very interesting to note that the words rhapsody, tapestry, and poems are can be traced back to Ancient Greek. Rhapsody is of course related to rhapsodist who is the one who sews the song. Tapistry may actually be of pre-Greek origin but in Ancient Greek it does carpet, rug, or mat all of which could be hung on a wall. Poem is derived from ποιέω or perhaps there was once a digamma ποιϝέω. In either event it simply means I make. All this boils down to that the reader makes something different every time they read it aloud or otherwise.
The paperback of Wilson's Odyssey has "He failed, and for their own mistakes they died", bringing back, even if not fully, the σφετέρῃσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν of the Greek.
I love the word atasthalia! There is a cool use of it in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. On translating Homer people might enjoy this and many other pieces in the new journal Ancient Exchanges: https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/ancient/issues/departures/iliad/