I was reading the play Antigone by Sophocles (it's in our book) and noticed some things pertaining to class. I noticed two vocab words were used, clement and augur. One of the characters in the play is a blind augur who with the help of an assistant who can see, forecasts that the king will have great misfortune if he kills Antigone. The more interesting relation to class, however, was the translation. Antigone was written in ancient Greece, and thus, in Greek. In the English version, there are several references to "God". This is anachronistic because no one believed in God then; they believed in the gods, and most importantly Zeus. I assume the translator meant "Zeus" when he wrote "God". I found it odd and don't really understand why he didn't just write Zeus since it was more historically accurate and a closer translation to the original. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this translation?
~Becca
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ReplyDeletethe part about the blind augur reminds me of "The Odyssey" by Homer. Therisias was a blind seer from the Land of the Dead whom Odysseus met while he was there. Perhaps this is an archetype in Greek literature? But wouldn't it not make sense for an augur to be blind if they study the flights of birds?
ReplyDelete-emily
One of the parts of the definition for augur states that the person tells the future by "seeing signs of what is to come" and we gave examples such as examining bird flight and animal entrails, so agreeing with Emily, wouldn't the fact that the augur is blind make the person automatically NOT an augur? I wonder if the word had slightly different meanings in Ancient Greece, or if the authors of the stories just thought they were being dramatic?
ReplyDelete-Alexa
On the subject of the idea of Zeus translating to God, I remember seeing on the history channel once that, especially later on, some of the Greeks were more inclined to be at least semi-monotheistic. While they may have believed in all the gods, they saw all but Zeus as being inconsequential. Or they may have just believed in Zeus. Now, this was only a small group of people, but it is a possible explanation.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of a blind augur, I have two thoughts. One, perhaps it was a totally different word in the original Greek, and augur was chosen because it would be the most familiar word of the same meaning. Also, the idea of a blind person telling the future is actually very common. Fantasy writers seem to love it. In Diana Wynne Jones' book "A Tought Guide to Fantasyland" (which pokes fun at the commonly repeated plots, settings, characters, etc. used in fantasy novels) it says under the entry 'Seer', "They are either blind with white eyes or tend to wear a symbolic blindfold." I think that a blind augur or seer is just a common idea.
-Melissa C.
I think the key thing in the blind seer question is the difference between a seer and an augur. While (most) augurs tell the future by observing birds, seers use other means. Most seers in ancient times were blind, because the people believed that they could more accurately "see" the future by being blind. That is, without literally seeing the present, they could better "see" the future.
ReplyDeleteMelissa's post about seers tending "to wear a symbolic blindfold" reminded me of the personified Lady Justice. She is blindfolded, holding a sword and scales. The blindfold is supposed to make her deal out justice more fairly. Maybe seers are blindfolded or blind so they aren't biased in their predictions of the future.
-Audrey
On the Zeus subject, God means many things to many people, just as Zeus assuredly meant many things to many Greeks. It seems a good translation in that respect.
ReplyDelete-Colin
He most definitily is an augur, and a very respected one at that, despite not having his vision. I think the fact that he is blind is an almost purposeful contrast. In response to Alexa, he is still an augur because he makes the forecast. An assistant helps tell him what is happening, so it's like he could see. Of course the assistant could lie, but the gods kill you for that, and everyone fears the gods, so he wouldn't.
ReplyDelete~Becca LaRosa