The Lesbian Lyre: Reclaiming Sappho for the 21st Century

Translating ancient classics is a long-honored way to bring new life into old books for new readers. It is also a genre that has changed how it translates works over time, from more classic translations to more modern translations that some people feel play fast and loose with the translations. This author falls into the latter camp, where he strongly feels that translators have lost all meaning of the works they translate by modernizing the language too much. This fairly lengthy work is a combination of a couple of things. First, it is a long treatise on how translation has gone all wrong and the ways to make it right. The second part contains his own translations of some ancient Greek works.

While not everyone will agree with his views–myself, I am split about 50/50 on his arguments–he does make some good points that I hope scholars and translators will pay attention to. Just because you want to make it sound modern does not make it a correct translation. Mr. Duban has brought to light something that is generally not talked about but should be.