There is a hard word to translate in The Odyssey. And it’s in the second line of the epic poem.
It is the epithet—the adjective, or byname—for Odysseus.
In the proem, or the invocation to the muse, Homer asks the muse to help him tell a story about a man. He is a man of…
- “…of many changes…” (H.E. Bates)
- “…the man for wisdom’s various arts renown’d…” (Alexander Pope (with Wiliam Broome and Elijah Fenton)).
- “…the travelled Man of many a turn…” (T.S. Norgate)
- “…of the man of many turns, who was driven far and wide…” (Anthony Verity)
- “…of that resourceful man who trekked far and wide…” (Richard Whitaker)
- “…fated to roam…” (S.O. Andrew)
- “…about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost…” (Emily Wilson)
- “…is that resourceful…” (E.V. Rieu)
- “…skilled in all ways of contending…” (Robert Fitzgerald)
- “…of the various-minded man…” (T.E. Lawrence)
The word in question is the Greek word polytropos or polutropos. And there is no direct English translation.
“This is not his most common epithet in the Odyssey, but it is one of his most important epithets. The word polutropos is utterly untranslatable into one English word. I can tell you what it means. I can’t come up with a good one-word translation for it. It means, literally, ‘many turns’. Polu means ‘many’ as in words like polygon. Any other words that has poly or polu in it. That means ‘many’ in Greek. Propos means ‘turns’, ‘turn’, or ‘turning’. So, the polutropos man is the ‘man of many turnings’.
Now, what does that mean for Odysseus? I think there are two levels of meaning in this word.
First off, he is literally a man of many turnings. He is blown back and forth. On the sea, trying to get home to Ithaca. He keeps being turned off course, he keeps being blown back in the direction he’s already come from. So literally, this word refers to his many wanderings, but it also refers to his cleverness.
He is polutropos in his mind. He is able to think his way out of any situation. To think on his feet. To reason his way out of troubles. To come up with stratagems—clever ploys to get himself out of any difficult and the word polutropos picks up on both of those aspects of Odysseus’s story.
His wanderings and his cleverness. It’s a very difficult challenge for a translator. Right there, in the centre of the first line of the Odyssey is this word that is thematically of the utmost importance for The Odyssey and can’t be translated into one good English word, or even one good English phrase…”
Lecture on The Odyssey of Homer by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver
Right there, in the beginning of the poem, is one of the most difficult words to translate. It colours how the story is told. It is a play on words that captures Odysseus’s cunning nature. His duplicitous nature. But also, his tale of wanderings, shipwreck, and loss.
It’s hard to capture in words. Just as how this epic continues to speak throughout millennia is hard to capture.
Perhaps because Homer was the most cunning storyteller of all.
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