THE EPIGRAMS OF ASKLEPIADES OF SAMOS

ANON   Wednesday, 05 August 2020

Of interest is Puerilities: Erotic Epigrams of The Greek Anthology, translated by Daryl Hine. This is the first complete verse translation of book 12, "Musa Puerilis."

* * *

Editor   Wednesday, 05 August 2020

Hine's translation is certainly what to read if you want the Musa Puerilis in trendy English verse adapted to modern ways of thinking and expressing oneself, but it is hopeless compared to W. R. Paton's if you want to know what was really written and to understand its nuances and implications. For an excellent comparison, and an analysis of the dilemmas facing a translator of this work, see James Jope, "Translating Strato: The Role of Translations in the Study of Ancient Sexuality and the Understanding of Classical Erotica", Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada, Volume 5, Number 1, 2005, XLIX—Series III, pp. 47-57.