Best Translation(s) of Horace's Odes?

[Abras]

Hi,

I recently read, in The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton, that the Odes of Horace are nearly untranslatable. Yes, of course it is true that any poetry will never translate perfectly -- meaning is always lost. However, whereas some or even most of the meaning can be translated from many poems, the odes seem rather elusive in this regard. It is the way he says these things, it seems, and not the sometimes mundane things which he says. How can you translate that? Still, I hear many --some very distinguished-- have tried, and it is dubious have succeeded. Anyone have any experience in this area? What is the best translation of one or all of Horace's Odes?

[dfloyd]

Roman Way, but these are quite old so anything contained in them may not be of the latest. I have a beautiful copy of Horace published by the Limited Editions Club in two volumes in 1961 in an edition of 1500 copies. The first volume consists of some 70 Odes and Epodes selected and Edited by Louis Untermeyer. The Latin is printed on the left hand page with the English translation on the right hand page. The translations are by different translators selected by Mr. Untermeyer purportedly for their accuracy and sense of imparting the original Latin into English. The Limited Editions Club is noted for their adherence to the best possible translations of the time of publishing. The second volume is composed of replicas of pages of Horace published throughout the centuries. Both volumes are bound in 1/4 silk with the boards covered in hand-marbled paper. They are held together in a single slipcase.

ABE has several copies for sale currently for $25.00 to $195.00, price being dependent upon condition.

[stlukesguild]

The Modern Library published an anthology entitled The Latin Poets which includes selections from Horace' Odes translated by various authors, including John Milton, A.E. Houseman, John Dryden, etc... David Ferry's translation published in a bilingual edition has been highly acclaimed. I cannot claim to have read much of the book myself as of yet, but what I have read of Ferry's translations... including Gilgamesh... has been quite solid.

[Drkshadow03]

When I read Horace's Odes and Epodes (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/booklist-2010-8-the-complete-odes-and-epodes-by-horace-trans-w-g-shepherd/) I used the W.G. Sheperd Translation.

[mortalterror]

I read Horace's Odes from the Perseus Project website and it was using a translation by John Conington. I've had a lot of trouble finding good translations of Horace in the past, but I found two books at the library last week: David Ferry's The Epistles of Horace and William Matthews The Satires of Horace, and they are pretty solid. Haven't found a good edition of the Epodes yet, though considering he's been popular with the English for centuries you'll definitely find one somewhere. Heck, the best translations of Euripides were done back in the eighteenth century.

[Virgil]

I cannot vouch for the accuracy in translation but i use David Ferry's translation and find it acceptable. I can't tell if there are better.
http://www.amazon.com/Odes-Horace-Bilingual-David-Ferry/dp/0374525722

[Pierre Menard]

Sorry for the bump, but I've been wanting to read Horace's work for a while now and was wondering if anyone had read the David West translations?

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Epodes-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199555273/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Or if anyone has read any other translations since this topic was posted.