Although only breath, words which I command are immortal: Sappho (?)

Cassandra

  • Semi-Newbie
  • *
    • Posts: 1
Could this be translated into Ancient Greek?
« Last Edit: 12 May, 2010, 18:17:05 by billberg23 »


billberg23

  • Hero Member
  • *****
    • Posts: 6318
    • Gender:Male
  • Words ail me.
Dear Cassandra, we wouldn't dream of inventing some artificial ancient Greek to "translate" a poem that was originally composed in ancient Greek, and by none other than Sappho!  You gave us Mary Barnard's translation into English;  presumably, she was translating a fragment of Sappho "from the heart," as Ms. Barnard liked to say, rather than literally, since none of the words in her translation translate back into Greek words that match any of Sappho's known poetry.  We are not the only ones in search of that fragment, and if it exists, we will find it for you.  Do you, or does anyone out there, have Mary Barnard's book?  Surely she would list, perhaps in an index, the original number of the fragment she believes she's translating with her "Number 9" (this poem).  For our part, we'll ransack our network of friends, scholars, and geniuses to come up with (hopefully) the original words of Sappho.
In the meantime, do read the intelligent comment posted five years ago on this site in response to the very same request you make:  https://www.translatum.gr/forum/index.php?topic=1065.0.
« Last Edit: 29 Mar, 2010, 02:37:22 by billberg23 »



 

Search Tools