Adrin Israel Rodrguez Avila

A Vergilian approach to the Politians Homeric translation, following the English epic
tradition

Ere I begin to present the arguments on which my translation was sustained, I shall explain
why I chose to write this minimum essay and the version itself- in English, for its my
duty, since we do not live in an English-speaking country nor is this a regular custom of our
University. Therefore, the idea of writing the paper in this language comes from both my
ignorance and my experience. As contradictory as this could be, the conjunction of both has
lead me to do it this way: for I ignore significantly the Spanish epic tradition: I have never
read either a Vergilian or a Homeric translation and I may say that many authors and
translators remain to me unknown. In the other hand is my English reading experience: I
know the literary tradition much better and I have been more involved in English literature,
not only by reading, but by some attempts of writing. Therefore, if what we seek is a
product of the epic tradition, I deemed necessary to approach to it using the language I
consider myself mostly familiar with when it comes, of course, to literary terms-. I have
read Drydens, Popes, Fagles and Wordsworth translations of the classic texts; thus, I
have knowledge, in this language, of things that I ignore almost completely in others. These
things said I shall now present my arguments on why I deem that my translation was made
following the vertiones of Politian.
Alice Levine Rubinstein1 states that the sources which Politian consulted to make
his translations were by no means Homeric only, but very many others that sprung from the
epic tradition; and thus, as well, I wrought: Ive read the Politians text, compared it to the
original, I made several searches on the PHI Latin Corpus and I compared some of the
English translations that I have at hand: Robert Fagles and Popes for the Iliad, Drydens
and Wordsworths; thus, I took or said nothing out of tone. My intention was, over all, to
respect the line of epic tradition, brought from Homer through Vergil and to Pope.
However, I had in mind something that, as we learned in our classes, probably Politian
thought of as well: to create something new, not copied, but nourished by the tradition.
1

Cf. The notes to Polizianos Iliad Italia Medioevale e Umanistica. XXV. Ed. Giuseppe Billanovich et al.
Editrice Antenore, 1982. p. 206.

Adrin Israel Rodrguez Avila

Like Fagles has written on his preface, trying to innovate, when it comes to translations, of
course it is a risky business; however, my intentions were not as literary as merely
academic: I tried to do the same experiment as the one that Angelo did, though, naturally,
with lesser results.
Another one of my reasons to write it in English was my capability to write in verse;
I considered absolutely necessary to translate a versified work in the very same manner:
Politian did so, so did the others who translated Homer and the epics; thus, I had to do the
same. I chose the chief meter in English for the translation of epic poetry, the heroic
couplets: iambic pentameters coupled with A/A rhymes. Since the iambs are a very flexible
meter, I had made a couple of substitutions that I have marked in the translation. I have
been as well persuaded by Wordsworth in regards to the translation of ancient authors. In
his letter to Lord Lonsdale (CCCXXXII), he states that although Miltons blank verse could
have been formed upon the model of the Georgics and the Aeneid, the modern, and
especially, the English poet, cannot do but depend upon the ornaments of sonority, to
compensate those lost in the process of translation; therefore, I deemed necessary, as
Wordsworth did, to apprehend these few but much needed tools to make my translation as
pleasant as possible. Due to the nature of the English language, I have to say that I had to
make one Latin verse into two, or sometimes I had to add an adjective or an adverb, to
complete the metric feet, but I did it always considering the words of Homer and Politian. I
was on the need to write a iambic trimeter and a hexameter, but this exception was of no
more than these two verses.
Last but not least, I must briefly explain why I considered so important to have the
Vergilian accounts, both the original and the translations. We know that Homer is the root
not only of epic poetry, but of occidental literature. There is no doubt that this is true;
however, whilst our Greek author is the seed, Vergil is the vehicle, or meliore dictu, as
Alexander Pope said: Homer makes us hearers and Virgil leaves us readers. As we
learned, Politian knew from head to toe the works of Vergil and he knew the importance of
his legacy. So do us. Thus, we cannot do anything but trying to honour the Vergilian
heritage by using, as much as the possibilities allow us, his lexicon.
Having nothing more to say for the moment, I shall present now my Vergilian
approach to the Politian translation.

Adrin Israel Rodrguez Avila

His actis, geminae surgunt in limite gentis,

The men alike, in limit land, did rise

Quisque truces oculos hostili in corpore fixus.

and each on foe did fix their hostile eyes.

Protinus adstantum subitus pavor occupat artus.

Immediately, a sudden fear takes hold

Illi demenso stant cominus aequore campi;

Of the limbs of those who stood, as told before.

Crispantesque graves hastas ingentibus iras

Both sides stand in likewise measured ground

Accendunt stimulis. Tum primus troius heros

Against each other, to fight one more round;

Fulmineam validis emittit viribus hastam;

They burn both trembling spears and profound rages

Illa volans clypei fulgenti umbone corusci

Aroused by great and powerful rampages.

Incidit, obtusaque ad terram cuspide fugit.

And thus the hero, first of Trojan land,

Hic ferro Atrides praefixum robur acuto

With great strength doth cast the gleaming spike;

Iam dudum in Paridem librans, ita ad aethera fatur:

She, flying, falls amidst the brilliant shield,

Omnipotens genitor, da nostro occumbere ferro

And with her feeble point did reach the field.

Dardanium Paridem, meritasque exsolvere poenas,

And while the Atrid took the fixed spear

Ut metuant omnes venturum semper in aevum

That was, by sharp steel, long since adhered,

Hospitium violare sacrum et confundere pacem.

Thus to the lofty heavens now quoth he:

Sic fatus, magnum contorquet robur in hostem,

Thou omnipotent father, grant to our steel

Et clypeum ingentem valido transverberat ictu,

That he slays Dardanid Paris and

Thoracisque moras varii tunicamque recludit

That he dissolves the already earned sentence

Extemplo, ad mediam teritur qua sutilis alvum.

Lest everyone, for all the eternity,

Ille nigram abducto vitavit corpore mortem.

Avoids defying holy hospitality

Tum bonus Atrides nitidum consurgit in ensem

Or confounding the peace.

Arduus; et summas galeae dum percutit oras,

These things said he, then turned his mighty pike

Dissiluit multo perfractus fragmine mucro.

At his foe; it went through, with potent strike,

Ille gemens caeloque advertens lumina fatur:

The enormous shield and soon revealed the attire

Rex divum omnipotens, crudeli pectore nullus

And the divisions of the mail; the bind

Est tibi par superum: ferro punire cruento

Was torn apart, close to the middle-paunch.

Sperabam demens hostem; nunc debilis ictum

He shunnd the blackened Death, his body stoln.

Destituit mucro, nec summum vulnere corpus

Thus, the good and steep Atrid reachd toward

Lancea perstrinxit nostro contorta lacerto.

His gleaming blade ; the upper edges he whacked

Sic fatus, nitido surgentem vertice conum

of his helmet; and so the shattered sword

Arripiens, hostem Danaum torquebat in agmen:

was by its many cracks destroyed. And thus

At miseri fauces urgebat sutile vinclum

He, wailing, turning his eyes to the sky

Fulgentis galeae molli sub gutture fixum.

Said: o king of the Gods there is no one

Adrin Israel Rodrguez Avila

Alike to you, of the supreme, in cruel heart:
For I, crazy, did wish to harm the man,
My enemy, with my bloodthirsty blade;
But now the feeble sword the stroke replaced,
And not the thrown spear, with our own arm,
The body of our opponent did harm.
And thus spake he; and now he seized the top
f th sprnging peak; and now he dragged his foe
Throughout the marching lines hes drawn but then
The fixing bond, tht ndr his throat did held
The shining helmet, straind the poor mans neck.