Customer Reviews

The Hymns of Orpheus

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first clue that this translation isn't what it should be is the fact that the poems all rhyme. You can't translate Greek to English accurately and expect it to rhyme. He also chose to translate the names of the Gods either into their English words (like Heaven) or their Roman names (like Saturn) rather than leave their Greek names so you can figure out exactly who he means (Like Ouranos). He confused Hecate, Selene and Artemis, calling them all Diana at one point or another and I think there's a point where he translated Dione as Diana as well. The final result- you spend more time trying to guess who the poem is about.
Further, despite the title's promise of a "preliminary" dissertation, there is more commentary throughout the book than poems, though the commentary doesn't help much in figuring out who the heck he's talking about unless it contains snippets of Greek which is sometimes helpful.
In short, there is little to no value to this book.

This very old translation of the Orphic Hymns is venerated by those who genuinely know the teachings of Orpheus and Plato. Thomas Taylor translated a vast number (many many volumes) of Hellenic texts, some very difficult such as Proklos. Amongst these texts, the Orphic hymns are some of the very few that he translated into verse. The original hymns are poems. Taylor did two things which were typical of scholars of his time who were translating poetry: 1) he rhymed the lines, and 2) he used the Roman names for the deities. He has been criticized in our time for both of these, which were simply conventions of HIS time. (The language of scholars from that period was Latin) The amazing feat of Taylor is that somehow, despite the demands of rhyme, he very accurately kept the spirit of the text and the meaning as well. This author has acquaintance with scholars in Greece who, in English, prefer Taylor's translation for this very reason. Taylor was immensely learned and this can be seen in his notes to the text. However, if you want real evidence of his abilities, read some of his prosaic translations. If you read these with an open mind, you will be humbled. Taylor was a giant.

Taylor's understanding of Platonism and classical Hellenic paganism is underrated. His translations were influential on William Blake, Shelley and William Wordsworth. In American editions they were read by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Mead, and Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy.

Alright so these have been translated countless times and have survived a couple millenia, how can anyone in their right mind give this book anything less than five stars. Buy it even if you're not going to read it, it will look impressive on your shelf next to the books you do read.