Odyssey comparison (D/E)

Above you see Roland Hampe’s 1979 translation of the Odyssey into German.

A very close translation would go something like this:

Tell me, Muse, about the man, the much-turned, who was repeatedly / cast away after he destroyed the holy stronghold of Troy / he saw settlements of many people and learned their nature / and suffered much pain in his mind on the sea / striving for his life and the homecoming of his companions / but even then he could not restrain them, however much he wished to / fools, who ate the cattle of Hyperion’s son, Helios; / but he took from them the day of their homecoming / of that, goddess, daughter of Zeus, give us an account now, too.

This has a lot in common with Wilson’s translation, in my opinion. It has a similar simplicity. Of course, one could always quibble about how I’ve translated Hampe’s translation…the quibbles never end. Feel free to leave them in the comments.

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