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Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life
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Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life Customer Reviews
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Not what I was looking for.
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In the introduction, A.A. Long wrote,
"...Epictetus often uses the vocative 'anthrope', literally '(O) human being' or (O) man'; but neither of these translations works in modern English. So I have preferred to write 'friend' or 'my friend'..."
This told me what I needed to know about A.A. Long's translation: it is not what I am looking for. Here, Long actually confesses to changing the substantive meaning of a phrase for the purpose of making it "work in modern English." It certainly is a substantive change, since one may logically conclude that all people who are "friend"/"my friend" are "human being/man", but not all who are "human being"/"man" are necessarily "friend"/"my friend". It is painfully obvious that "human being"/"man" is not a synonym for "friend"/my friend". When Epictetus chose to use the vocative "anthrope", he was purposefully addressing a broader group than "friend"/"my friend": he was addressing both "friend AND "non-friend". There is a profound, substantive difference between addressing an audience as "(O) man!/(O) human being" and addressing an audience as "Friend"/"My friend" That difference gives insight to the ideas of the speaker.
If A.A. Long has changed this, then what else has he changed? Maybe a lot, maybe nothing. But, I don't want to risk wasting my time -- there's too much to read without having to worry about whether a modern translator has been unfaithful to the substantive meaning. |
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