Trish's Reviews > The Odyssey
The Odyssey
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Trish's review
bookshelves: greece, islands, literature, mythology, one-for-the-ages, something-completely-new
Feb 25, 2018
bookshelves: greece, islands, literature, mythology, one-for-the-ages, something-completely-new
The first line in Emily Wilson’s new translation of the Odyssey, the first by a woman scholar, is “Tell me about a complicated man.” In an article by Wyatt Mason in the NYT late last year, Wilson tells us
Wilson reminds us what a ripping good yarn this story is, and removes any barriers to understanding. We can come to it with our current sensibility and find in it all kinds of foretelling and parallels with life today, and perhaps we even see the genesis of our own core morality, a morality that feels inexplicably learned. Perhaps the passed-down sense of right and wrong, of fairness and justice we read of here was learned through these early stories and lessons from the gods. Or are we interpreting the story to fit our sensibility?
These delicious questions operate in deep consciousness while we pleasure in learning more about that liar Odysseus, described again and again as wily, scheming, cunning, “his lies were like truth.” He learned how to bend the truth at his grandfather’s knee, and the gods exploited that talent when they helped him out. The skill served him well, allowing him to confuse and evade captors throughout his ordeal, as well as keep his wife and father in the dark about his identity upon his return until he could reveal the truth at a time of maximum impact.
There does inevitably come a time when people react cautiously to what is told them, even to the evidence their own eyes. The gods can cloud one’s understanding, it is well known, and truth is suspected in every encounter. These words Penelope speaks:
There is a conflicted view of women in this story: "Sex sways all women’s minds, even the best of them," though Penelope is a paragon of virtue, managing to avoid temptation through her own duplicitousness. She hardly seems a victim at all in this reading, merely an unwilling captor. She is strong, smart, loyal, generous, and brave, all the qualities any man would want for his wife.
We understand the slave girls that Odysseus felt he had to “test” for loyalty were at the disposal of the ungrateful suitors who, after they ate and drank at Penelope's expense, often met the house girls after hours. Some of the girls appeared to go willingly, laughing and teasing as they went, and were outspoken about their support of the men they’d taken up with. Others, we get the impression from the text, felt they had no choice.
Race is not mentioned but once in this book, very matter-of-factly, though the darker man is a servant to the lighter one:
We watch, fascinated, as the gods seriously mess Odysseus about, and then come to his aid. We really get the sense of the gods playing, as in Athena’s willingness to give Odysseus strength and arms when fighting the suitors in his house, but being unwilling to actually step in to help with the fighting. Instead, she watched from the rafters. It’s hard not to be just a little resentful.
Wilson’s translation reads very fast and very clearly. There always seemed to be some ramp-up time reading Greek myths in the past, but now the adventures appear perfectly accessible. Granted, there are some names you’ll have to figure out, but that’s part of being “constructively lost,” as Pynchon says.
A book-by-book reading of this new translation will begin March 1st on the Goodreads website, hosted by Kris Rabberman, Wilson’s colleague at the University of Pennsylvania. To prepare for the first online discussion later this week, Kris has suggested participants read the Introduction. If interested readers are still not entirely convinced they want this literary experience now, some excerpts have been reprinted in The Paris Review.
“I could’ve said, ‘Tell me about a straying husband.’ And that’s a viable translation. That’s one of the things [the original language] says…[But] I want to be super responsible about my relationship to the Greek text. I want to be saying, after multiple different revisions: This is the best I can get toward the truth.”Oh, the mind reels. This new translation by Emily Wilson reads swiftly, smoothly, and feels contemporary. This exciting new translation will surprise you, and send you to compare certain passages with earlier translations. In her Introduction, Wilson raises that issue of translation herself: How is it possible to have so many different translations, all of which could be considered “correct”?
Wilson reminds us what a ripping good yarn this story is, and removes any barriers to understanding. We can come to it with our current sensibility and find in it all kinds of foretelling and parallels with life today, and perhaps we even see the genesis of our own core morality, a morality that feels inexplicably learned. Perhaps the passed-down sense of right and wrong, of fairness and justice we read of here was learned through these early stories and lessons from the gods. Or are we interpreting the story to fit our sensibility?
These delicious questions operate in deep consciousness while we pleasure in learning more about that liar Odysseus, described again and again as wily, scheming, cunning, “his lies were like truth.” He learned how to bend the truth at his grandfather’s knee, and the gods exploited that talent when they helped him out. The skill served him well, allowing him to confuse and evade captors throughout his ordeal, as well as keep his wife and father in the dark about his identity upon his return until he could reveal the truth at a time of maximum impact.
There does inevitably come a time when people react cautiously to what is told them, even to the evidence their own eyes. The gods can cloud one’s understanding, it is well known, and truth is suspected in every encounter. These words Penelope speaks:
"Please forgive me, do not keepParticularly easy to relate to today are descriptions of Penelope’s ungrateful suitors like Ctesippius, who "encouraged by extraordinary wealth, had come to court Odysseus’ wife." Also speaking insight for us today are the phrases "Weapons themselves can tempt a man to fight" and "Arms themselves can prompt a man to use them."
bearing a grudge because when I first saw you,
I would not welcome you immediately.
I felt a constant dread that some bad man
would fool me with his lies. There are so many
dishonest, clever men..."
There is a conflicted view of women in this story: "Sex sways all women’s minds, even the best of them," though Penelope is a paragon of virtue, managing to avoid temptation through her own duplicitousness. She hardly seems a victim at all in this reading, merely an unwilling captor. She is strong, smart, loyal, generous, and brave, all the qualities any man would want for his wife.
We understand the slave girls that Odysseus felt he had to “test” for loyalty were at the disposal of the ungrateful suitors who, after they ate and drank at Penelope's expense, often met the house girls after hours. Some of the girls appeared to go willingly, laughing and teasing as they went, and were outspoken about their support of the men they’d taken up with. Others, we get the impression from the text, felt they had no choice.
Race is not mentioned but once in this book, very matter-of-factly, though the darker man is a servant to the lighter one:
"…[Odysseus] had a valet with him,Odysseus’s tribulations are terrible, but appear to be brought on by his own stubborn and petulant nature, like his taunting of the blinded Cyclops from his own escaping ship. Cyclops was Poseidon’s son so Odysseus's behavior was especially unwise, particularly since his own men were yelling at him to stop. Later, that betrayal of the men’s best interests for his own childish purpose will come back to haunt Odysseus when the men suspect him of thinking only of himself--greediness--and unleash terrible winds by accident, blowing them tragically off course in rugged seas.
I do remember, named Eurybates,
a man a little older than himself,
who had black skin, round shoulders, woolly hair,
and was [Odysseus's] favorite our of all his crew
because his mind matched his."
We watch, fascinated, as the gods seriously mess Odysseus about, and then come to his aid. We really get the sense of the gods playing, as in Athena’s willingness to give Odysseus strength and arms when fighting the suitors in his house, but being unwilling to actually step in to help with the fighting. Instead, she watched from the rafters. It’s hard not to be just a little resentful.
Wilson’s translation reads very fast and very clearly. There always seemed to be some ramp-up time reading Greek myths in the past, but now the adventures appear perfectly accessible. Granted, there are some names you’ll have to figure out, but that’s part of being “constructively lost,” as Pynchon says.
A book-by-book reading of this new translation will begin March 1st on the Goodreads website, hosted by Kris Rabberman, Wilson’s colleague at the University of Pennsylvania. To prepare for the first online discussion later this week, Kris has suggested participants read the Introduction. If interested readers are still not entirely convinced they want this literary experience now, some excerpts have been reprinted in The Paris Review.
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Reading Progress
February 11, 2018
–
Started Reading
February 11, 2018
– Shelved
February 11, 2018
– Shelved as:
greece
February 11, 2018
– Shelved as:
islands
February 11, 2018
– Shelved as:
literature
February 11, 2018
– Shelved as:
mythology
February 11, 2018
– Shelved as:
one-for-the-ages
February 11, 2018
– Shelved as:
something-completely-new
February 21, 2018
–
3.44%
"Books 1&2: Telemachus speaking 2 the aged councillors...if one changed Telemachus 2 Emma González & the councillors to U.S. senators, the language cld practically stay the same: "You suitors all should feel ashamed! ...The angry gods /will turn on U in rage; they will be shocked / at all this criminal behavior!" "Telemachus,/ you stuck up willful little boy, how dare you/ try and embarrass us & put the blame/ on us?"
page
20
February 22, 2018
–
44.67%
"Odysseus escapes the Cyclops but keeps taunting him from his escaping ship...Geesh. Considering he was the one who got his men in that fix, he probably should have listened when they told him to 'knock it off.'"
page
260
February 23, 2018
–
57.22%
"Odysseus is back in Ithaca! Athena has turned his skin wrinkled & loose, his hair thin & gray, and his general look very shabby, I think Athena has been using her wand on the people I know. When will she free them?"
page
333
February 24, 2018
–
76.63%
"This is such a fantastic translation. It reads so clearly, smoothly and the sarcasm(!) stands out easily, e.g.,
"But the upright swineherd answered,
"Yes, guest, I would be praised enormously
among all men, now and in times to come,
if I took you inside and welcomed you,
then murdered you!..."
"
page
446
"But the upright swineherd answered,
"Yes, guest, I would be praised enormously
among all men, now and in times to come,
if I took you inside and welcomed you,
then murdered you!..."
"
February 25, 2018
–
Finished Reading
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Feb 11, 2018 06:39PM
Which of all these Iliad books out there should I start with??
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Trish - do you know how I find that reading group on here on Goodreads? I am just finishing the Daniel Mendelsohn book on the Odyssey and his dad, and the Wilson translation is next up. Your wonderful review makes me that much more intrigued
Elaine wrote: "Trish - do you know how I find that reading group on here on Goodreads? I am just finishing the Daniel Mendelsohn book on the Odyssey and his dad, and the Wilson translation is next up. Your wonder..."
O YES! Bruce & Elaine, this is THE most fun book EVER. The way to get to the group is through this link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
O YES! Bruce & Elaine, this is THE most fun book EVER. The way to get to the group is through this link: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Trish wrote: "Elaine wrote: "Trish - do you know how I find that reading group on here on Goodreads? I am just finishing the Daniel Mendelsohn book on the Odyssey and his dad, and the Wilson translation is next ..."
Trish -- Thanks for the link. It looks fantastic!
Elaine -- I'm so glad to hear how much you're enjoying the Mendelsohn book, particularly the audio version. It's high on my lists (GR and Audible).
Trish -- Thanks for the link. It looks fantastic!
Elaine -- I'm so glad to hear how much you're enjoying the Mendelsohn book, particularly the audio version. It's high on my lists (GR and Audible).
I was so sitting on the fence w this new translation. I read the Fagles Odyssey translation some years back and then listened to the audio on a car trip. I so love his rhythmic language and the story. Telemachus really came alive to me this go around. But your review is soooo fun and intriguing I’m ordering the book immediately! Many thanks
Renata wrote: "I was so sitting on the fence w this new translation. I read the Fagles Odyssey translation some years back and then listened to the audio on a car trip. I so love his rhythmic language and the sto..."
Thanks, Renata. I'm going to recommend you definitely enjoy this book. Especially being so familiar with the book from another translator, you will have all kinds of insights and feelings about the characters, and realize that this is a translator's choice! Astonishing...and SO MUCH fun.
Thanks, Renata. I'm going to recommend you definitely enjoy this book. Especially being so familiar with the book from another translator, you will have all kinds of insights and feelings about the characters, and realize that this is a translator's choice! Astonishing...and SO MUCH fun.
Oh look at you, on that new Odyssey hotness. I've been side-eyeing this ever since that terrific NYT piece you mentioned. Thanks for the excellent review; I'll bump it up my mental list a little.
Oh, Alex, I'd love to see what you think. You'd manage the whole ethos with ease...way out in front.
It's exciting to know that these books are still very much alive and with us in inspired new translations. Thanks for reading and sharing them with us in another great review, Trish!
I usually prefer prose translations, but this one has been looking and sounding so great…I feel like I won't be able to stop just picking it up next time I walk by a copy. Nice review!
I wasn't particularly interested to read Homer but I went to a conference this weekend about the Splendors of Europe , a dialogue between two of the most important humanists we have. They argued that Europe started with Greece and Homer and discussed a lot about the Iliad and The Odyssey that i want to read them. I should probably start with The Iliad but i am a bit worried about the verse. i am poetry adverse and I fear I will not be able to enjoy this as i should. I will try though and see how it goes.
Oh, Adina, you're in for a treat. Don't worry about being verse-adverse, especially if you decide to take advantage of this great opportunity to read along in this marvelous new translation of The Odyssey.
You can read the Iliad next, and I guess for the fearful, I would recommend trying the Stephen Mitchell audio, or even his text, which doesn't read like the old translations--and maybe doesn't even read like poetry(?)--but allows a modern-day reader to totally understand why these books are the greatest epics ever written.
You can read the Iliad next, and I guess for the fearful, I would recommend trying the Stephen Mitchell audio, or even his text, which doesn't read like the old translations--and maybe doesn't even read like poetry(?)--but allows a modern-day reader to totally understand why these books are the greatest epics ever written.
Yay Adina! What do you think, Trish, which would be better for someone to start with? I like the Odyssey better - I think it's more complicated and interesting, the Iliad is just a big fight scene mostly. (The Iliad: fight fight fight, gay stuff, someone's head explodes.) But The Odyssey starts kinda slow, right? Like there's all this stuff with Telemachus all where's my daaaaad, before you get to the fun monster stuff like Scylla & Charybdis, which, btw, also the names of two cats we used to have.
also the Odyssey is much longer.
I've read Mitchell's Gilgamesh, I dug it. There are hella prose versions, they're not my thing but maybe Warwick has recommendations. (Hey Warwick!)
also the Odyssey is much longer.
I've read Mitchell's Gilgamesh, I dug it. There are hella prose versions, they're not my thing but maybe Warwick has recommendations. (Hey Warwick!)
Alex wrote: "Yay Adina! What do you think, Trish, which would be better for someone to start with? I like the Odyssey better - I think it's more complicated and interesting, the Iliad is just a big fight scene ..."
Actually, the Telemachus part didn't seem so long in this one. At least to me. It is very long, but it reads fast, this version. I have a soft spot for The Ililad, but most people I know say they like The Odyssey better.
Actually, the Telemachus part didn't seem so long in this one. At least to me. It is very long, but it reads fast, this version. I have a soft spot for The Ililad, but most people I know say they like The Odyssey better.
I've only read the Mitchell Gilgamesh too – unless you were talking about Iliad stuff, in which case I really recommend the EV Rieu prose version. I'm probably biased because, like most people, I have a soft spot for the version I read first – but I really think that most poetic translations are a bit awkward, especially for first-time readers. I'm not a huge fan of Fagles, for instance – for me it just reads as a little ‘worthy’ and strained. For me, good prose versions can give you the thrill of the story and are also more free to be accurate on the vocabulary without worrying about fitting it into English scansion.
I think I like The Odyssey better, myself. The story is certainly more familiar and approachable – but The Iliad has all the good, moody reflective passages on human nature and, obvs, the killer fight scenes.
I think I like The Odyssey better, myself. The story is certainly more familiar and approachable – but The Iliad has all the good, moody reflective passages on human nature and, obvs, the killer fight scenes.
The thing is that this translation makes the whole experience feel somewhat new. Of course, I haven't read the Odyssey for years but this has real momentum.
I am like most people, too, usually, but I no longer have any affinity for what I read first...I liked looking at the Fagles of the Iliad this time through, though I was reading the Peter Green & listening to Mitchell. I like having the thoughts of everyone on this.
I am like most people, too, usually, but I no longer have any affinity for what I read first...I liked looking at the Fagles of the Iliad this time through, though I was reading the Peter Green & listening to Mitchell. I like having the thoughts of everyone on this.
Trish, what a wonderful review! You capture the excitement of the story, the delight in a new translation, and some themes that underscore why this work has remained so relevant and inspirational over the millennia. And many thanks as well for the shout out for the group read. I'm so glad you're joining in -- looking forward to discussing this translation in more detail with you. I hope you post this review in the group as well: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
My first reading was Lattimore and I still love his version, but I CANNOT WAIT to read this. Wilson had approached it in such a different way- her Twitter is fantastic as she picks out certain passages and explains her reasoning.
I have her version on my bedside table ready...
I have her version on my bedside table ready...
So. in the end, I bought the Romanian translation of Iliad. Will talk in about six month time after i read it. :))
Magnificent review Trish! I’m so excited to be reading this gorgeous translation in this sublimely beautiful hardback book. Mmm I love nice paper! I love the Odyssey and read the Fagles translation a few years back. Then I listened to it on audio. So far I’ve read the intro which has made me feel so in awe that the story is even here for us to enjoy and that it is very alive and vibrant !
Adina wrote: "So. in the end, I bought the Romanian translation of Iliad. Will talk in about six month time after i read it. :))"
I wondered how you would manage it, Adina. I hope the Romanian translation is a good one: the idea that the translations can be different is what discuss here, in addition to the overall momentum of the story.
Gosh, I hope we did not steer you wrongly & that you enjoy the adventures. The thing about this new translation is that it is a fast, nimble read. It must be a horror to try and read in non-native English, however.
I wondered how you would manage it, Adina. I hope the Romanian translation is a good one: the idea that the translations can be different is what discuss here, in addition to the overall momentum of the story.
Gosh, I hope we did not steer you wrongly & that you enjoy the adventures. The thing about this new translation is that it is a fast, nimble read. It must be a horror to try and read in non-native English, however.
Renata wrote: "Magnificent review Trish! I’m so excited to be reading this gorgeous translation in this sublimely beautiful hardback book. Mmm I love nice paper! I love the Odyssey and read the Fagles translation..."
Oh, Renata, you will have fun with this one, I just know it. And you are right: this book is beautiful looking. Love love love the cover.
Oh, Renata, you will have fun with this one, I just know it. And you are right: this book is beautiful looking. Love love love the cover.
Trish wrote: "Adina wrote: "So. in the end, I bought the Romanian translation of Iliad. Will talk in about six month time after i read it. :))"
I wondered how you would manage it, Adina. I hope the Romanian tra..." I usually read in English but I prefer to read classics in Romanian. Dickens, Austen etc were read in translation as the original felt strange. I am not sure what language I prefer a Greek classic. I also wanted to have the book in hardcover at home so i hope i made the right decision.
I wondered how you would manage it, Adina. I hope the Romanian tra..." I usually read in English but I prefer to read classics in Romanian. Dickens, Austen etc were read in translation as the original felt strange. I am not sure what language I prefer a Greek classic. I also wanted to have the book in hardcover at home so i hope i made the right decision.
You can't help but love it, Melora, and give a glance to the public discussion that remains through the links above. There was real erudition in some of the comments.
Great review Trish - thank you. There are so many things to say about this translation and you have done a great job to bring out some really interesting observations here for us.
"This new translation by Emily Wilson reads swiftly, smoothly, and feels contemporary." I agree, though I liked it less.
Jan wrote: ""This new translation by Emily Wilson reads swiftly, smoothly, and feels contemporary." I agree, though I liked it less."
Less than what, Jan? What’s your favorite translation?
Less than what, Jan? What’s your favorite translation?
I have Fagles, Wilson, Riue, and Chapman. Chapman is like the KJV of The Odyssey and is my husband's favorite. I haven't finished Fagles, but so far I prefer Riue's prose version to Wilson's poetry. I liked some of Wilson, but I did not appreciate some of the decisions she made. As one example, I feel she unreasonably limited herself to 10-syllable lines and the iambic pentameter breaks up frequently—more often than not. The Greek is in verse with 13-18 beat lines. Wilson is concerned that prose versions become longer. She's right about that, prose does tend to become wordier. However, making the lines shorter than the original defies my understanding. When is it ever possible to consistently and accurately translate in fewer words than the original language? Thus, reading back and forth between translations, I found information missing from Wilson. To maintain her line-by-line translation she left things out.
However translation done, it is a struggle over priorities. When I explain translation to students, I talk about poetry as a balance of meaning, music, and form. What do you let go of first? Most poets, when they translate, let go of form first. Wilson chose to impose her own form and sometimes loses both meaning and music as a result.
Aside from that, I am likely reading for different reasons than some. Readers are most interested in the more exotic monster portions, while I was introduced to the Iliad as history. That makes my interest in these stories more anthropological. Besides, I loved the Greek myths and read Edith Hamilton's Mythology when I was nine. I don't want a refreshed and modern "contemporary" interpretation of these stories. I want to understand how the ancients viewed the world. I did not find that perspective to be very strong in Wilson.
However translation done, it is a struggle over priorities. When I explain translation to students, I talk about poetry as a balance of meaning, music, and form. What do you let go of first? Most poets, when they translate, let go of form first. Wilson chose to impose her own form and sometimes loses both meaning and music as a result.
Aside from that, I am likely reading for different reasons than some. Readers are most interested in the more exotic monster portions, while I was introduced to the Iliad as history. That makes my interest in these stories more anthropological. Besides, I loved the Greek myths and read Edith Hamilton's Mythology when I was nine. I don't want a refreshed and modern "contemporary" interpretation of these stories. I want to understand how the ancients viewed the world. I did not find that perspective to be very strong in Wilson.
That's so interesting, Jan. I guess it won't surprise you that I do not agree. But there is room for disagreement.
You say Wilson tried to ..."unreasonably limited herself to 10-syllable lines..." because "...Wilson is concerned that prose versions become longer."
Yes. I get that. But Wilson has a good point. Shortening the lines makes the work more readable, and sound more contemporary. Readers drawn in by the new translation may be interested to look at the earlier translations. Many people I know love the first translation they read and want to look at the rest. They are delighted when they find one they like better.
I am concerned when you say, "Reading back & forth btw translations..." and "..to maintain her line-by-line translation she left things out." The reason I worry is that Wilson makes clear in her Introduction that the original Greek is an interpretative feast. One can mean this or that or some other by looking at the same words. Many who do a translation comes up with something different. Those may be the things Wilson is leaving out.
" When is it ever possible to consistently and accurately translate in fewer words than the original language?" I am not trying to be dismissive but I can think of many ways different languages do not match up exactly in a poetic rendition of an event. Even were two authors to write in English, one author will take more words, syllables if you wish, to say the exact same thing that another says more elegantly and conservatively.
In the end, I find it kind of a useless exercise to say which translation is "best," though I myself started out asking my friends which they thought was best for me to read. As it happens, they all disagreed, so I got them all and tried to figure it out for myself.
I found that each had value and aspects that were "best." I ended up liking one best: Fagles for The Iliad, and, since I no longer had time for reading every Odyssey, I decided I enjoyed this one enough to remind my what the adventures were, and where I wanted to focus my attention when I went back to read the other translations.
I think there is room for as many translations as scholars want to put out there. After all, this work has been around a long time. Scholars from very century took a swing or two at it. But I understand and respect your interest in understanding the history. I would, in that case, think that you would have to read every translation that comes around to make sure you are not missing anything.
You say Wilson tried to ..."unreasonably limited herself to 10-syllable lines..." because "...Wilson is concerned that prose versions become longer."
Yes. I get that. But Wilson has a good point. Shortening the lines makes the work more readable, and sound more contemporary. Readers drawn in by the new translation may be interested to look at the earlier translations. Many people I know love the first translation they read and want to look at the rest. They are delighted when they find one they like better.
I am concerned when you say, "Reading back & forth btw translations..." and "..to maintain her line-by-line translation she left things out." The reason I worry is that Wilson makes clear in her Introduction that the original Greek is an interpretative feast. One can mean this or that or some other by looking at the same words. Many who do a translation comes up with something different. Those may be the things Wilson is leaving out.
" When is it ever possible to consistently and accurately translate in fewer words than the original language?" I am not trying to be dismissive but I can think of many ways different languages do not match up exactly in a poetic rendition of an event. Even were two authors to write in English, one author will take more words, syllables if you wish, to say the exact same thing that another says more elegantly and conservatively.
In the end, I find it kind of a useless exercise to say which translation is "best," though I myself started out asking my friends which they thought was best for me to read. As it happens, they all disagreed, so I got them all and tried to figure it out for myself.
I found that each had value and aspects that were "best." I ended up liking one best: Fagles for The Iliad, and, since I no longer had time for reading every Odyssey, I decided I enjoyed this one enough to remind my what the adventures were, and where I wanted to focus my attention when I went back to read the other translations.
I think there is room for as many translations as scholars want to put out there. After all, this work has been around a long time. Scholars from very century took a swing or two at it. But I understand and respect your interest in understanding the history. I would, in that case, think that you would have to read every translation that comes around to make sure you are not missing anything.
We disagree? We value different things. You asked my preference and I don't think you need to agree or disagree with my personal preference.
No harm. I know you like the translation, and you asked me what I preferred. I don't think that means we have an argument or a disagreement. We have different preferences. That is as it should be. ;-)
Yeah, I really loved having the opportunity to look at it again with new eyes & with new suggestions on how it could be interpreted. It can be exhausting to try & decide which is 'the best' translation, and as Jan points out, most of us do choose a favorite over time. But I love to see how someone new & respected in the field looks at this endlessly fascinating story.