Oedipus help

Mongoose42 · Post by **Mongoose42** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:05 pm

Hopefully someone with a knowledge of ancient Greek can answer my question. In the exodos of the Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex, the translation says:
From one to another of us he went, begging a sword,
Hunting his wife who was not his wife

Does the original greek word for hunting refer to seeking or hunting with intent to kill?

Emma_85 · Post by **Emma_85** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:56 pm

Uh... which line is this? If you're text doesn't give the lines maybe you can find it on Perseus and tell us which line it is exactly...

PhilipF · Post by **PhilipF** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:08 pm

I think you are referring to line 1255
but there is no word in the text for 'seeking or hunting' it says literally
he was going to and fro asking us where to find ....

Mongoose42 · Post by **Mongoose42** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:08 pm

I found the passage in Perseus, a much clearer translation. The problematic translation was a condensed translation that used the term hunt.
Thank you for your responses.

Another case where the english lanuguage fails to have the clarity of more refined languages.

chad · Post by **chad** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:59 pm

hi mongoose, although it might be of no interest now, to answer your original question, the word for hunt (used e.g. by sophocles in ajax, line 2) means both to hunt to destroy something, and to seek after something or to seek to do something (+ infinitive):

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/pt ... 3D%2348724

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:14 am

Mongoose42 wrote:
Another case where the english lanuguage fails to have the clarity of more refined languages.

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say: "Another case where the translation fails to give the exact intend of the original author."
Only a small point but I'm sure that these things would also happen with translations from English into "more refined languages."