A Guide to the Odyssey: a Commentary On the English Translation of Robert Fitzgerald
“12–18 Odysseus and his men fulfill all the requests made of them by Elpênor’s restless spirit (XI.83–87).
27 twice mortal: Literally, “twice dying,” since entering into the land of the dead is normally permitted only to those who have died. Even though the word is based on the premise that Odysseus and his men would enter the land of the dead once again, never more to take their leave, there is nothing ominous about it: the Greeks seem to have been less uncomfortable about the certainty of their mortality than we are.
47 a god: Kirkê herself.
48ff. Seirênês: Commonly “Sirens” in English. Fitzgerald is right to choose a more accurate transliteration, which both preserves more of the music and, simply by not being the all-too-familiar name, recovers some of the wonder and magic that must have accompanied their mere mention for the Greeks. Homer twice refers to two Seirênês [52 and 185; Fitzgerald uses “two Seirênês” only once, line 218] but more often uses forms which would normally be ...appropriate for three or more Seirênês.MoreLess
27 twice mortal: Literally, “twice dying,” since entering into the land of the dead is normally permitted only to those who have died. Even though the word is based on the premise that Odysseus and his men would enter the land of the dead once again, never more to take their leave, there is nothing ominous about it: the Greeks seem to have been less uncomfortable about the certainty of their mortality than we are.
47 a god: Kirkê herself.
48ff. Seirênês: Commonly “Sirens” in English. Fitzgerald is right to choose a more accurate transliteration, which both preserves more of the music and, simply by not being the all-too-familiar name, recovers some of the wonder and magic that must have accompanied their mere mention for the Greeks. Homer twice refers to two Seirênês [52 and 185; Fitzgerald uses “two Seirênês” only once, line 218] but more often uses forms which would normally be ...appropriate for three or more Seirênês.MoreLess
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