Who is your favourite author and why?

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helenS · 36-40, F

My favorite author is, and has always been, [b]Homer[/b]. He was the first author in the modern sense of the word, he wrote a [u]book[/u], he did not write down a divine revelation. He told a [u]story[/u], about a young guy who refused to fight in a pointless war. The whole story is embedded in a mythical archaic setting (he needed readers!), but It's a [u]book for our times[/u]. There are still too many pointless wars.

Rambler · M

Do you have a favorite translation?

helenS · 36-40, F

@Rambler My favorite English translation is by Thomas Hobbes (1675).

[i]O goddess sing what woe the discontent
Of Thetis’ son brought to the Greeks; what souls
Of heroes down to Erebus it sent,
Leaving their bodies unto dogs and fowls.[/i]

Rambler · M

Yes. Of modern English translations, I find Fagles very effective.

helenS · 36-40, F

@Rambler English isn't my first language, so the differences between Early Modern English and Contemporary English are less significant to me. (And I love "thou" and "thee" and "thine"! 😁)