Status Updates From Horace: Satires and Epistle...

Boys 'n Gals I have done did it! Finally managed to complete the 700 lines of Persius. To be honest it is that sort of book that 2/3 of the time you need to do research and read commentary (unless you are an expert of ancient lit and myth, that I clearly am not) and 1/3 of the time you can re-read it and really enjoy the whole. Definitely worth a while even though it took me 3 months.

4/6 Persiuse satiiridest loetud. Võrdlemisi levinud teemad, ent stiil on kindlasti eristuv ka tõlkes. Lahe, vahetu, kujundlil ning törts musta huumorit. Ars longa, vita brevis.

Arvasin, et Persiuselt (jah, selline nimi), on siin raamatus tutvustuseks välja töödud käputäis töid, aga tuleb välja, et 6 satiiri ongi kõik, mis temast säilinud on. Arvestades lühikest elukaart — 27 aastat, on see isegi päris hästi. Ning tore, et need säilmed on algusest lõpuni terviklikud. (Meenuvad antiiknäidendid, mille lõpp on puudu või tervikteosed, kus puudub vahepealt mõni või mõnikümmend rida. Väga häiriv.)

Ars Poetica on Horatiuse raamatu pooles viimane ning ilmselt üks vanimaid luuleteooria tekste.

Tasa ja targu. Horatiuselt 2 teksti veel. Ning Persiuselt 6.

Horatiuse kirjad on ehk paremadki kui ta satiirid. Jäänud on 2-3 pikemat kirja/teksti, mis tegelevad luulevormi küsimustega ta enda kaasajas.

Horatiuse 2 viimast satiiri veel lugeda. Siis on ta kirjad. See raamat läheb teokiirusel, kuna viiteid ning googeldamist on isegi minu jaoks veidi palju.

Getting back on track. Finished the first book of satires by Horatius (10 pieces in total). There is now the second book (8 satires in total). I got to say this stuff rings quite dear to heart. Horatius is really efficient in the use of language. He does not waste words so to say. He writes in a simple manner... yet not lacking in any way. Throws clever puns here and there. Definitely worth the read and effort.

Horatiuse 7 satiiri loetud.

Esimene Horatiuse satiir loetud. Üsna palju eetilist/mõneti stoitsistliku filosoofiat. (Mõõdutunne, kasinus) Kuigi seda veidi raske parafraseerida siis nagu autor ütleb: "miks mitte anda tõde edasi läbi naeru".

Persius, Satires

6/10

May very well be that Persius just isn’t as good as Horace, but it certainly feels like the translation trails off a bit towards clunky modernisation of the Latin, making the text more understandable perhaps for the reader, but definitely at the expense of the intent/talent of the author.

Epistles II/Ars Poetica

10/10

Really just some of the finest Latin literature I’ve read.

Epistles, Book I

8/10

Lightly taking the epistle.

Satires, Book 2

9/10

A lot more fun! Drunk bawdy times all round from Horace.

Satires, Book 1

8/10

Took me a moment to get used to Rudd’s style of translation, which seems to empathise feel/tone to the character intent of the text over accuracy to the Latin. Such an approach doesn’t work all the time (even in this) but it does make for a riotous and ribald read. Best to imagine a very drunk Brian Cox (The actor) reading this.