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What Others Have Said About
This Translator's Work
"These new dramatic releases provide us once again with that powerful and
direct style of translation for which Professor Johnston has become known.
Students reading these translations will have no doubt of the passion and
issues raised by the plays."
Princeton Professor Emerita.Elaine Fantham
I would like to express my sincere thanks for your translation of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals. I am using it this semester in my Introduction to Philosophy course. I find it forceful and accurate, successfully capturing the spirit of the work, and my students find it stimulating and interesting to read. It is wonderful that you have made such a fine contribution to scholarship. (Rhode Island)
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I am not a student or academic. In my spare time, I read philosophy and
am coming to grips with Nietzsche. I bought a translation of "The
Genealogy of Morality (/Morals)" by Maudemarie Clark and Peter
Swensen, but found your translation of infinitely more value. It is much
easier to understand.
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I have read your translation of Nietzsche's Toward a Genealogy of Morals and consider it to be far clearer than Kaufmann's.
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Your translation is wonderfully done. I wrote a paper on "On the Use..." in a graduate seminar and the copy from our library was stilted and awkward. Everything else I had read by Nietzsche was wonderfully fluid and poetic. I couldn't believe that the version from our library was by the same author. Your translation captures Nietzsche's poetic element wonderfully, bravo!
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I am enjoying very much your lucid translation of On the Genealogy of Morals. I find it much more accessible than the earlier Kaufmann edition, thus enabling a readier sense of conversation with this cantankerous uncle of ours. Thank you very much for having posted it online.
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I just wanted to say I think your translation of Zur Genealogie
der Moral might be the best available on the Internet! It is not
perfect, to be sure, but very, very good indeed.
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[re Kant]I haven't read through the entire translation yet, and much less compared it to the German (anyway, my German is rusty, and at least later on, Kant seems quite consciously forging a new technical vocabulary - "Objekt" vs. "Gegenstand" and all that...). What I did read through, leads me to think this is just dandy and a real contribution.
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Thank you for such a wonderful
translation of the
Agamemnon and for making it so accessible
(St Andrews, Scotland)
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Hello. I'm a student at the University of Illinois - Chicago and am a big fan of your work. I strangely find myself coming back again and again to your work... leaving each time with a satisfying reading experience. As I'm sure you are acutely aware, your work has a certain pristine quality to it that other translations fall short of. The clarity of your expression (and the accuracy too) is quite remarkable.
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Excellent translation, easy to read, wonderful entry to epic Greek poems
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For my Classical Literature class,
I have made great use of your translation of Agamemnon,
its considerably easier and more understandable language helped me a lot
regarding it more correctly than the version we were given.
Ankara, Turkey
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I have found your very good
translation of "Agamemnon" which, if you allow me, I would
like to quote (just the first 30 verses) in my work on Clement of
Alexandria.
University College, Chichester, UK
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I ...read "The Libation Bearers". Thanks, I really like your translation. Sometimes I think Mr. Lattimore and I are on different wavelengths :).
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An adult Shakespeare Group . . .
in Melbourne, Australia, of which I am the tutor, sometimes, as a break
from Shakespeare, looks at other major dramas. Last year I was very keen
that we should take on Aeschylus' "The Oresteia Trilogy"
but we had difficulty in finding a suitable translation. Our Group . . .
came across your translation...and was very taken with it. So it was...
read to great effect. A former Melbourne headmaster and also a
classicist followed the original text as we read and was full of
admiration for the translation.
Melbourne, Australia
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I cannot tell you of the pleasure I have had reading your translation...
It is clear, it is eloquent, and most importantly it's exciting. The
Iliad thrilled me as a schoolboy and I have eagerly absorbed
each of the many versions that have appeared down the years. Our
classics teacher was a very wise man he knew we'd never read it at
home as part of an assignment so he assigned us all roles in the story
and we read the whole thing aloud in class over the course of an entire
school year. The class was as polarized and confrontational being Greeks
and Trojans as were the Jets and the Sharks when Jerome Robbins
rehearsed West Side Story. Of course, everyone wanted to be Achilles and
nobody wanted to be Hera, but . . . . _______ I was
captivated by your new translation of the Iliad. I am
currently reading Samuel Butlers translation, having recently discovered
Greek Mythology thanks to Dan Simmons' Sci-Fi Novels Ilium and Olympus,
and even though it is extremely engaging and fantastic to read, I
instantly found that your translation flows better and was more
accessible. . . . ______ ______ Ian- your
translation of The Iliad is definitely student friendly.
I'm using Fagles' translation with my Grade XII Classical Studies
classes and your translation would be even better. . . . Peter A. ______ Two summers
ago, I happened upon your translation of the Iliad. The
Iliad provided a retreat, to which I eventually brought
Sophocles, Aeschylus and Ted Hughes. The simple elegance and truth of
your translation still delights me. For what the above is all worth, I
have a grade 7 English and did not attend university. Lupita K
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I just wanted to say thanks for
putting your translation of the Iliad
on the web- I think it's excellent. ______
I'm currently a sophomore in high school, and I studied the Iliad
and
Odyssey last year as a freshman. Now, I'm a third year Latin
student, and while researching an essay on similarities between the
Aeneid and Homer I came upon your translations of the
Iliad and Odyssey. Especially for the
Aeneid, the only English copies of ancient texts are
translations almost as ancient, which are hardly a help when doing
research. Your translations of the Homer, however, are easily
understandable and have an excellent poetic flow as well. I ended up
liking your translations so much that I used them instead of the other
modern translations I had read last year.
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I am a visiting assistant
professor at the Washington University in St. Louis, MO, ... I am
teaching Homer this semester, and I often turn to it to understand
better the ancient text. It is a wonderfully written piece of work, and
I wanted to give you the satisfaction that your labors have benefited a
colleague as well as a new generation of young classicists.
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Oh, I'm very happy to find a new
translation of Iliad here. What you do give me much good
inspiration. Thank you for your effort.
______ I
stumbled across your translation of the Iliad... and like
it very much - and intend to use it for a class next term.
Best,
______
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[re Iliad] I'm sure
it will soon prove to be my favorite translation of Homer's great epic.
What an exciting discovery for me today!
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I send this note simply to say
thank-you for making available your translation of the Iliad.
You translation style too keeps close enough to the Greek to allow room
for comments about the oral-derived nature of the present text. All the
best,
______
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Thank you for such a wonderful
translation of the Agamemnon and for making it so accessible
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I am a pre-service teacher in
California. As I was doing my fieldwork I came across the Ian Johnston
translation of The Odyssey, which I then showed to my
master teacher. He liked the translation so much that he wants to use it
exclusively in his classes. When I get my own classroom, I plan to
always use the Ian Johnson translation of any text that is available.
These texts are far superior for the secondary classroom setting and I
am so excited that I found them. I just wanted to say thank you for
making available such a useful classroom tool.
Jaime A.
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Excellent
translation, easy to read, wonderful entry to epic Greek poems
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I really enjoy your translations
and after skimming some other versions of Homer's stories, I found that
your translations were the best. I would really like to compliment you
on that. Your lectures and notes have also been very interesting to
read. I would like to express my sincere thanks for your translation of
Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals. I am using it this
semester in my Introduction to Philosophy course. I find it forceful and
accurate, successfully capturing the spirit of the work, and my students
find it stimulating and interesting to read. It is wonderful that you
have made such a fine contribution to scholarship. (Rhode Island)
______
I started reading your abridged
translation of the
Iliad and am impressed with the readability - quite
different than the version I remember from my university days (1967).
Thanks for the excellent work. I am staying in Moscow, Russia, and am
re-reading the classics. (Moscow)
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I'll be reading Philoctetes
with my class this year, and will also recommend your Orestes.
I haven't read through either translation in detail yet, but what I've
looked at is excellent: an up-to-date version that gives people a clear
sense of what the author wrote, in English a typical student can
understand and respond to.
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I am teaching English 123 . . . .
And I would like to use your translation of Oedipus.
Although I bought Moses Hadas as a text, students are finding it
difficult. I like your translation much better.
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Dear sir: I heard your translation
of Homer on NPR recently and was impressed by the clarity and
readability of your language. I am an English teacher in Connecticut and
am always trying to introduce students to more Homer. (Waterford, CT)
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I discovered your Iliad
and Odyssey texts on line three years ago, and have used
them ever since for my grade 9 gifted students in a high school program.
. . . Like many of your other admirers, I really like your translation.
(Toronto)
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I have read the first chapter of
your translation of The Iliad on line, and was so pleased
that I will be ordering this as well your version of The
Odyssey. I have a copy of the Iliad translated by Samuel
Butler, which I attempted to read for the first time after my 8 year old
son read Mary Pope Osborne's rendition of The Odyssey, but
I did not have the same success he had. I think I'll be more successful
with your translation. (Toronto)
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Your translation is so much easier
to understand than any other publication available. Even what we have
read online has helped my son who is encountering this epic for his
first time ever as a high school freshman.
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Thank you very much for the modern
translation of the Iliad of Homer. I am enjoying it very
much. I learned of your translation of the Iliad from NPR. I found it on
the web and after reading a few lines was immediately convinced that it
offered a far better introduction to the text than any of the other
translations that I've read. Thank you both for the work you've done in
making the translation. Let me congratulate you for this very practical
possibility, of outstanding quality. (Saarbrucken)
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Your translation of "The
Iliad" is quite remarkable. It has power that I have not seen in
previous translations. Thank you for this work. I look forward to adding
it and your translation of "The Odyssey" to my library.
(Ann Arbor)
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Thank you so much for bringing Homer's
works to life in a way that I and I'm sure thousands of others will love.
(Kansas)
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I read your translation of the
Iliad last semester as I was preparing for my exams in
university. I enjoyed it very much. My professor assigned the Lattimore
translation, which I found absolutely mind-numbing to read, so I scoured
the internet to find a more friendly translation, which I found in
yours. I'd like to thank and commend you on producing wonderful
translations of these texts. I know I will return to translations of
yours whenever possible in the future. I am enjoying very much your
lucid translation of On the Genealogy of Morals. I find it
much more accessible than the earlier Kaufmann edition, thus enabling a
readier sense of conversation with this cantankerous uncle of ours.
(Washington, DC)
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I read the text on Bacchae
and I found it very useful. I want to translate it to Macedonian for our
class, but I'm having trouble understanding (or better yet translating)
some of the sentences and points in the text. So, I was wondering if I
can ask you for some clarification? (Macedonia)
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As part of the drama minor
programme, I am producing The Bacchae, and I've decided to
use your translation. Having read your translation for my Greek Tragedy
class, I found your version surprisingly accessible for a translation
thats so faithful to the Greek. (Fredericton)
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I have very much enjoyed reading
your Homer translations I really enjoy the easy fluidity of your
style! (Harrisburg, NC)
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Thank you so much for the
translation of "The Frogs..." I am going to see the play
performed tonight at the ancient theatre in Argos and I'm sure I'll get
a lot more out of it thanks to your efforts. I compared a few
translations but yours seemed the most satisfying. The notes are very
useful, too - I might have got the mythological references, and even
some of the literary ones, but gay Athenians, ghost writers and crooked
laundry keepers would have passed me by.
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Hello. I'm a student at the
University of Illinois - Chicago and am a big fan of your work. I
strangely find myself coming back again and again to your work...
leaving each time with a satisfying reading experience. As I'm sure you
are acutely aware, your work has a certain pristine quality to it that
other translations fall short of. The clarity of your expression
(and the accuracy too) is quite remarkable. I've long been a fan of your
translation of the Iliad---now that the Odyssey's
here, I can't be happier. Do you have a fairly modern translation of
Lysistrata? I love the translation of
Oedipus the King I wish to congratulate you on a fine
translation of Homers epic poem. For poetic content, I always favored
Lattimer's translation. (Who else rendered English into the Greek
favored Spondaic Hexameter?) But for flow and understanding, you
translation is, in my humble opinion, vastly superior.
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Your translation of the
Iliad is fantastic; I'm really enjoying it (as is my six-year
old, who occasionally has me read some to him). I'm fairly tearing
through it at this point, and looking forward to the "sequel"...the
Odyssey?
Cordially yours,
John M.
Kindest Regards
Richard W.
I wish to congratulate you on a fine translation of Homers epic poem.
For poetic content, I always favored Lattimer's translation. (Who else
rendered English into the Greek favored Spondaic Hexameter?) But for
flow and understanding, you translation is, in my humble opinion, vastly
superior. Again I offer thanks and congratulations for your fine work.
Best wisher,
Bert F.
Thanks for your work. My students will benefit.
Merci encore
Yours,
Timothy E
Fellow in Law
Balliol College
Oxford
Ian B.
Warm regards,
Eleni M.
Yours, Tang
Frank R.
Many, many thanks for your recent translation of the Iliad.
I was classically trained myself, and now my son is going off to St.
John's College in Annapolis. His first assignment is the Iliad,
and I have given him your translation. It has the life of the
original!!!!
David S.
Lehigh University
Yours,
Tom B.
Andrew Porter
Graduate Lecturer
Editorial Assistant for the journal Oral Tradition
Editor of Mercurius
Department of Classical Studies
420 GCB
University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211
I came across your Iliad translation when I made a Google
(actually Vivisimo) search for new translations and/or the original
Greek online.
Yours is simply gorgeous, or at least what I've seen of it. It's the
truest in both verse form and spirit of the original that I've seen.
Don't mean to gush, but it simply blew me away.
With best wishes,
Nancy C.
(St Andrews, Scotland)
(California)
Thank you so much for this beautiful translation of the Iliad.
I have been searching and searching for a poetic form of the Iliad
that I can give to my sophomores. This will totally work. I really
enjoy your translation of the Iliad. Thank you so much for making this
and your other translations available.. I have been using small sections
of it my Western Civ classes for years. (Idaho)
I really liked your translations of The Iliad and The
Odyssey. Would you mind if I used them in the lesson as
course books? (Uzbekistan)
(Regina)
(Peoria, Illinois)
(New York City)
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