An Italian pun notes that traduttore, traditore: to translate is to betray.

One of the great joys and frustrations of reading ancient texts—or more recent ones in languages I can’t read—is seeing all the differences in the translations, all the various interpretations of the original.

Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh; photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed AminFor example, right now I’m reading the Epic of Gilgamesh and I’m comparing three different recent translations and a couple of others in the public domain. The differences are sometimes minimal (“dwelling” vs. “home”), sometimes significant (“heard” vs. “told”), and sometimes hilarious (“he snooded his locks”).

Continue reading “Lost in translations”