Hi! I've got a real bee in my bonnet, and I'm wondering what other people think. I've read so many different translations of Homer, and if you put them all side by side the variations are considerable - so much so, that if I didn't know the original text I'd be unsure which to trust. Translators of Homer (or any text) have to balance the literal translation with the idiom of their own language - they're not meant to paraphrase or add their own words or ideas. Yes, the meaning of the original text needs to be conveyed in translation, but not the thoughts of the Translator - that's for the Introduction!
You may wonder why I'm so rattled - it's because a lot of people depend on translations to read the text, and I think the Translator has a duty not to mislead people.It may seem like I'm quibbling over a few words, but surely that's what a translation's all about - words? Especially in a text such as The Iliad and Odyssey, where the words are so beautiful. I have to depend on audiobooks to "read" now, since I lost my sight - and I've just listened to an almost sacrilegious destruction of The Odyssey!