The Bacchae (Applause Books)
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The Bacchae (Applause Books) Details
Language Notes Text: English (translation) Original Language: Greek Read more
Reviews
This translation is a rare gem--written for the stage and with the full force of modern poetry. One does not have to go far to discover how Golder brings translation of Greek Drama to the next level. Compare Arrowsmith's impeccable translation of lines 261-263, in which Pentheus admonishes Teiresias:"When once you seethe glint of wine shining at the feasts of women,then you may be sure the festival is rotten."This has been the standard for generations, and followed by nearly every subsequent translator, including Kovacs in the recent Harvard University Press Greek/English edition. Now see what Golder, who undertook his translation at the behest of Arrowsmith himself:"Of this, old man, you can be sure:when women mix with wine, they glow--but not with holy light. There's no mystery here."On a basic level, Golder transposes the "shining" quality from the grape in the cup to the flush in the skin of the women, then uses this to undercut the religious truth of the Bacchic revels, a point on which the entire play turns on. But it's deeper than that because Golder introduces the word "mystery", a very precise choice that is strangely absent from other translations. What elevates this to the best poetry is the double meaning he gets out of the word. As "Mystery", it references religious rites, mystery cults such as that at Eleusis; as "mystery" it reduces the term to the lesser meaning, the implication that it's all about getting the women drunk for lascivious purposes, and one can even stretch this to a direct accusation that Teiresias' intent is lecherous.You may be thinking "so what?" Well, the brilliance of Golder choice become readily apparent when you look a the Greek, and find the word Euripides uses for mystery is ὀργίων (orgion). You might recognize this word because from it we derive the modern "orgy". In a single passage Golder presents the conflict between the holy ecstatic rites and the base degraded mockery of the same.But what is perhaps most salient is that the Golder translation opens the passage to nuance not found in the more one-dimensional renderings which tend to lock Pentheus into a rather unsympathetic and uninteresting portrayal.The Golder BACCHAE sets a new standard, both for performance-oriented Greek translation, and depth of understanding of the material. There is a resonance here beyond the linguistic, that gets the very core of the myth. This is a translation should be an essential part of any library, and should be the first choice of those wishing to stage the play.