Numbered lines

[Deb]

Finding a good translation is always an adventure. I read a translation of Lysistrata that had the Spartans talk like backwoods redneck hicks! It was really insulting! I'm sure the translator was just trying to make a point that there were differences between the city-states, but the characters literally sounded like Jethro and Ellie-Mae and Granny! The dialect was even spelled out and I'm sure the word "ain't" was in the text. It was really pathetic. And I totally agree that if you have a Greek text, use the Greek names. It's would be like reading a translation of "The Three Muskateers" and having Smith, Jones, Davis and Green instead of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan.

[Mike]

I can live with the use of Roman gods instead of Greek gods in the translation. In The Norton Anthology World Masterpieces, Robert Feagles translates The Iliad. He uses the names of Greek gods; however, the next epic in the text is The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, and he uses the names of Roman gods and his own pronunciation symbols. Exposing readers to new ideas and translations seems to be in line with the spirit of what all lovers of literature are in search of. I enjoyed brushing up on my Greek to Roman god conversion technique, but I found it increasingly difficult to research this online version because it has no line numbers! What is more, creating proper citations was near to impossible since counting three or four hundred lines into the poem manually is a complete waste of time.<br><br>Thank you for the wonderful access to this classic, but please toss us a bone and add some line numbers. <br><br>