Achilles And Jordans In The Iliad

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Why do translations differ from one another? Well,“ translations" are like a written puzzle that is incapable "to produce equivalent versions of verbal stimuli” (Sechrest, Fay and Zaidi). Deciphering the meaning of a massive work could possibly be as difficult as translating a single word. For example, a tyrant king might look at his regime as beneficial; while, citizens might dispute otherwise. It does not matter how, but to make sure to be inside the walls of Troy. Various individuals have translated “The Iliad” by Homer. Two individuals who have translated Homer’s work “The Iliad” are Stanley Lombardo and Herbert Jordan. The focus of this paper is on Book XXII, “The Death of Hector,” of The Iliad. Both Lombardo and Jordan are distinguished …show more content…

Furthermore, Jordan’s view of Homer’s work is more vivid and sophisticated regarding structure. As Achilles resembles the “peel [of Hector’s] flesh and eat it raw for revenge” in line 347, the imagination of the reader sprouts as it visualizes the process of Achilles peeling the colorful red flesh dripping a blood down as gravity pulls it violently to the ground. In this translation, most of the senses of the reader are addressed. For example, the “heart aroused” influence the reader to feel the vibration as the heart pumps blood in the circulatory system (line 346). According to Allen and Schwartz, “the stimulation of one sense organ,” such as vision, “influences in some degree the sensitivity of another sense,” such as hearing; thus, the more vivid the translation the greater the charming to the human senses (Allen and …show more content…

Even though the translations derived in a close range of time between one another, the translations vary from one work to the next. As an example, Lombardo utilized the next words “I wish my stomach” (line 384) while in the same line Jordan applied the next expressions “My fury and heart may” (line 346); clearly, there is a massive difference in perspective between the two translations. In one line, 383 in Lombardo and 345 in Jordan, there are only two words in similitude, such as “parents” and “do not” or “don’t” employed in Jordan and Lombardo’s translations respectively (line 345 and 383). On both translations, the greatest flaw is the translating from the initial work to a modernistic version. According to John Talbot and Ancient Greek authors, Homer’s style of writing of the lines was “stately, leisurely and ceremonious”; while in modern English, Lombardo and Jordan’s exact “same lines sound redundant and awkward” (Talbot,