(no subject)

[fadeaccompli]

"This edition has the modest aim of providing a readable text (i.e. one in which the plausible emendation is generally preferred to the cautious crux); a not wholly unreadable translation, in which, however, absolute naturalness of expression has sometimes been sacrificed in the interests of accurate reflection of the meaning and the varying stylistic levels of the Greek; and a concise commentary, usable both by those reading the play in translation and by those reading it in Greek, with the main emphasis placed on dramatic and poetic technique rather than linguistic or textual matters."

That is the first sentence of the preface to my textbook for Euripides' Orestes.

If anyone has any god damn idea what the parenthetical comment means, please let me know, because I sure as hell don't. I know what a crux is when it comes to bouldering routes, but when it's talking about translation choices? And a "cautious crux"? The hell?

This bodes ill.

Comments

[curmudgn]

What he's saying is that he'd rather rewrite a passage colloquially but understandably than use a tortured, over-explained literality.

[fadeaccompli]

Which is fair enough, even in an academic text.