Why are there so many different translations of Homer’s Odyssey, Vergil’s Aeneid, Herodotus’ Histories, or other ancient texts? Though it certainly makes sense to create newer translations if older ones have become incomprehensible to later readers, this hardly explains every translation available in libraries or bookstores. Why so many? Because, as the Italians say: “Traduttore, traditore” — ‘A translator is a traitor’ (literally: ‘Translator, Traitor!’). This folk-saying notes how impossible it is to capture the linguistic, cultural, and contextual nuance of one language in another language. Because the process of “finding ways to express alien concepts from an alien culture [] is necessarily imperfect,” it involves “a succession of compromises in the search for an equivalent in the target language” (Davie 2012). Thus, a translator necessarily makes a series of compromises (a.k.a., ‘betrayals’) to wrestle language A’s meaning into language B. And since every translator is different, each translation constitutes a different perspective (i.e., generates a different final product).

Translating ancient texts, however, is further complicated by the following factors:

1) Ancient texts were copied by hand (manuscript is Latin for ‘written by hand’) — by scribes/monks who may not have known the languages they were copying, and who worked by candlelight in freezing or sweltering rooms for hours at a time. Unsurprisingly, errors crept into these copies: misspellings; garbled passages; missing or skipped words, phrases, and lines; attempts to correct other scribes’ mistakes (again, by individuals who may not have known the text’s language very well); or even deliberate edits (omitting or changing a word or idea deemed mistaken or inappropriate) — to name a few. Such errors or changes would be re-copied by later scribes. Early manuscripts were also fragile: initially scrolls of papyrus or hide, they were later stored as codices (early types of books made from wood and papyrus or hide), then leather-bound books. These materials dried out, crumbled, rotted, or were eaten by rodents and insects — not to mention how combustible they were if a candle got too close. Hence, some manuscripts have missing or garbled text because of damage from the passage of time, mishaps, or hungry critters. In sum, the surviving manuscripts (of Aeschylus, Vergil, the Bible, etc.) from different regions of Europe or the Middle East do not always agree with each other. Translators must decide which manuscript version seems best (i.e., which one corresponds to a knowledgeable translator’s interpretation of, or best guess about, the original text) — giving us different translations (‘betrayals’) of the original text.

2) Sometimes translators ‘betray’ original works because the works are difficult to understand. For example, ancient philosophical texts can be complex to follow, leading to different emphases or interpretations by their translators. Similarly, many of Aristotle’s surviving texts are lecture notes lacking detail or precision (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Though they were clear to Aristotle (who knew what he meant), they are not so clear to us. This can make it difficult for a translator to determine what, exactly, Aristotle is saying!

3) As a genre, poetry is often intentionally ambiguous, since it relies upon language’s capacity for multivalence (how a word can have different meanings in different contexts). With a single word, ancient poets would invoke multiple themes or images that they would build upon as the poem progressed. But, often, an English translation of that word will not call to mind the same ideas as the Greek or Latin word did: our cultures are too different. Similarly: poetry relies upon symbols/imagery, yet because symbols derive meaning from both their cultural and narrative context, their nuance is often difficult to maintain in another language. A translator, then, must find a way to capture as much of a word or symbol’s nuance as possible, knowing that she will never be able to transfer the multiple threads of meaning embedded in language A’s word or symbol directly into language B.

4) Translations often reflect different translation approaches. For example, a modern poet might create an English verse translation of an ancient tragedy (note: ancient tragedies were poetry), while another scholar might translate the same tragedy with an eye to play production, i.e., creating a script/narrative that actors can perform and that an audience can follow in real time. Some translators create modern, idiomatic translations of texts that honor their original spirit, if not their exact language. Still others seek accuracy above all else, tolerating awkward expression(s) for precision’s sake. Similarly, translations generally reflect a translator’s particular scholarly expertise (often his or her motivation for translating the text in the first place), making the translation especially useful to an audience with similar interests. For example, Herodotus and Thucydides are important to military historians, social historians, political scientists, and ethnographers, who all prefer different translations. Each of these translation approaches/purposes is valid, and each one influences how the final product looks or works.

5) Finally, translation ‘betrayals’ can stem from translator bias. Sometimes translators assume that their own cultural moment’s prejudices about women, foreigners, race, sexuality, etc. can be applied to an ancient text whose culture would not have shared the same attitudes. Other times a translator actively and deliberately chooses to mis-translate or manipulate a text’s meaning for personal, cultural, political, or religious reasons — a practice more common for works considered foundational to European and US cultural identity and values than many might hope. Unfortunately, such willful mistranslations become the translated text’s ‘accepted’ version by those unfamiliar with ancient languages. Ironically, too, when later translators correct these mistranslations, they — not the original perpetrators — are accused of being ‘political’ or manipulative.

For these reasons (and more), the Italian saying is right: translators are, indeed, traitors. Ultimately, an important or treasured text is best read in its original language, not only to improve understanding or to catch nuance, but to protect against the occasional mistranslation (mistaken or otherwise). Given this is not always possible, however, translations remain an excellent option, especially if one remains aware that all translations require compromise; they do not, and cannot, ‘perfectly’ replicate an original text.

Bibliography:

Beard, M. September 30^th, 2010. “Which Thucydides Can You Trust?” The New York Review. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/09/30/which-thucydides-can-you-trust/?lp_txn_id=1667442

Davie, M. September 30^th, 2012. “Traduttore, traditore”. OUPblog https://blog.oup.com/2012/09/traduttore-traditore-translator-traitor-translation/

Greenwood, E. 2015. “On Translating Thucydides.” Ch. 6 in C. Lee. 2015. A Handbook to the Reception of Thucydides, N. Morley, ed. John Wiley & Sons. 135-71.

Haley, S. 2009. “Be Not Afraid of the Dark: Critical Race Theory and Classical Studies”, in Prejudice and Christian Beginnings: Investigating Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Early Christian Studies. L. Nasrallah and E. Schüssler

Katz, A. August 28^th, 2021. “Kate Gladstone Talks about Errors in Medieval Manuscripts.” PubWages.com    https://www.pubwages.com/12/kate-gladstone-talks-about-errors-in-medieval-manuscripts

Lebert, M. March 25, 2022. “A Short History of Translation and Translators.” Marie Lebert.wordpress.com  https://marielebert.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/translation/

Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-text/

Wilson, E. R. September 20^th, 2023. “Emily Wilson on 5 Crucial Decisions She Made in her Iliad Translation”. The Washington Post. https://classicseducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Emily-Wilson-on-5 crucial-decisions-she-made-in-her-%E2%80%98Iliad-translation-The-Washington-Post.pdf

Wilson, E. R. September 16^th, 2024. “On Complicated…”. EMILY’S Substack. https://emily613.substack.com/p/on-complicate

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