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There is a book out there that apparently 4 people translated Egyptian characters into English. Book, here is book. I believe that’s it based on the article and time I heard about it.
I'd recommend The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks. I don't speak Persian and haven't read other translations, but I think this collection is great. I particularly like “The Reed Flute's Song” and “I Have Five Things to Say.”
First off, look up the podcast Sweetbitter, because if you're interested in a book of her poetry you'd definitely be interested in a fantastic Sappho podcast.
Second, this is the copy I've had my eyes on for months. I love Anne Carson's translations, and I think there's just something significant about reading a translation done by a woman.
I really like the A. R. George edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh, although there's a recent edition by Benjamin Foster that I haven't read yet. Foster's anthologies Before the Muses and From Distant Days are some of my favorites and I reference them all the time for Akkadian mythology and poetry.
I envy anyone who was introduced to Mesopotamia in primary or second school. The curriculum at my school focused, ad nauseum, on Greece and Rome, with a little bit of Ancient Egypt thrown in for good measure. I didn't discover Mesopotamia until my brief time at college.
If there's anything about Mesopotamia that you're interested in or curious about, ask away. The community has been more active lately and we've got some good people who browse now!
The Epic of Gilgamesh. This has probably been mentioned by now in the thread, but as the oldest surviving piece of human literature, you could argue that this is where it all started. I'm a fan of the Penguin Classics edition, and the epic is also obviously in public domain; here is the Project Gutenberg link.
Is it the most riveting read? Maybe not, compared to mainstream and modern novels. The Epic is still worth reading because even back when people lived in mud brick homes and the ancient equivalent of New York City was anywhere with a population of 40,000+, exploration of the human condition was still something that intrigued people.
It's a story about justice, seeking glory, friendship, mortality, and whether or not immortality is something as literal as "never dying".
Everyone should read it at least once in their lives, if not only to experience where our literary tradition as a species first began.
The fact that Egyptian writings were not passed down to the Greeks and widely read, and that the ability to read and write hieroglyphics was lost is certainly an interesting phenomenon to puzzle over. There's no specific reason why this had to be the case, as the Ptolemaic kingdom would have acted as a perfect conduit between the two cultures. But keep in mind that none of the Ptolemaic royalty were said to read Egyptian at all until Cleopatra.
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If OP is interested in Egyptian writing, then there's this wonderful anthology entitled "Writings from Ancient Egypt" https://www.amazon.com/Writings-Ancient-Egypt-Toby-Wilkinson/dp/0141395958
But I have to be honest, after reading the richly objective historiography of Thucydides, the logical puzzles and thought experiments of Plato and Aristotle, an the psychologically complex comedies and tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes, Writings from Ancient Egypt simply doesn't come close to reaching the same levels of sophistication. They certainly wrote about interesting topics. There's many paeans to the gods and the pharaohs, biased battle reports, and even a few slice of life moments, but I was expecting something more from a cultural writing tradition of 3000 years that has only been surpassed by Greek and Chinese in longevity. I felt like I learned something new about Egypt, but the book didn't fundamentally change my view of the world or the way I think of knowledge or emotions like the traditional classics do. The reasons Egyptian writings fail to reach these levels is an interesting question worth exploring.
Yes, the Prose Edda translated by Anthony Faulkes and Volsunga Saga translated by Finch are the main supplemental primary readings I would recommend.
As to secondary sources, some good books are Turville-Petre's "Myth and Religion of the North" (super-expensive but a good library should have it), and anything by Margaret Clunies-Ross, Tom Dubois, or Rudy Simek.
Havamal is my favorite. It reminds me so much of the advice my grandfather gave me (and indeed part of my book is the Cowboy Havamal.
I think the translation of the Prose Edda by Anthony Faulkes is really good. So I don't think there's the same hole to fill there, since my issue with the other translations of the Poetic Edda was their readability and that's not a problem with Faulkes' Prose Edda.
My favorite book is If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho which is a collection of Sappho poems translated by Anne Carson! For anyone who is interested, Anne Carson translates Sappho beautifully Amazon Link Goodreads Link.
I posted my tattoo that includes Taylor Swift lyrics on here a few weeks back. My other tattoo, which you can't see in that photo, is a fragment of a Sappho poem! You can imagine how excited I am to see this post - two of of my favorite things colliding!!! lol
Thank you for the thoughtful comparison!
IMO the best Prose Edda you can buy is also available for free here: http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/EDDArestr.pdf
It's the Faulkes translation from 1995. If you want to buy a hard copy, you can do that here: https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163
The poet/Classicist Anne Carson did a translation with facing Greek text:
https://www.amazon.com/If-Not-Winter-Fragments-Sappho/dp/0375724516
If I recall correctly, it's not a scholarly text (i.e., there's no app crit, and it's cleaned up a bit). I don't know if that matters to you.
This doesn't have the "Brothers Poem" from P.Obbink (but that may be a forgery anyhow).
Its fine, tho Anthony Faulkes' Prose Edda is a more complete edition by including Háttatal.
Carolyne Larrington's translation of the Poetic Edda, the 2nd edition, is a solid translation with notes.
This here is actually the exact version I had to read in high school. Each page spread has the Old English on the left and the modern English on the right, which is incredible for seeing how words changed over time. But yes, definitely check it out.
Yeah the Poetic Edda translated by Lee Hollander and I for sure will, I’ll probably dump it in a google doc and upload it for free, just wanna get through it originally first and then “re-translate it” in my spare time as a passion project
Edit: Found it on amazon
There's a book on translations of Egyptian tales and monuments coming in January. I'm planning on getting it. Looks good for the price.
I'm a big bookworm, and bit of a history nut. So when I heard about this I was thrilled. Writings from Ancient Egypt.
Why that book in particular? Well besides loving all things ancient Egypt as a kiddy, there aren't that many translations of stories from ancient Egypt. You can get tonnes of stuff from Ancient Greek, and Latin. To be able to read about little snippets of life from those days, it makes my inner geek want to break out and my outer geek does too.
Dude paganism and the horseshit surrounding it is so overblown.
Christianity came into Europe and forced the native population to convert or face death.
If you were an outside force trying to work your way into and existing ecosystem, wouldn't you talk shit about the local beliefs to try and get people to try your shit out instead?
I recommend The Poetic Edda.
This is the version I used in my Old Norse class. :)
I've only ever read the one version, but I thought the Penguin Classic one was a very readable translation and it's probably the easiest to find.
This might suit your needs, although it is merely fiction. John Gardner's alternate take on Beowulf, told from the perspective of the misunderstood monster Grendel is downright hilarious while also having a lot to say about existentialism. Of course, I'd recommend reading the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf first--and why not? The language is beautiful, and reading between the lines reveals how Christian Anglo-Saxons felt about their proto-Viking pagan ancestors. Give them both a whirl! Here's a link to each:
I started reading The Divine Comedy using the Mark Musa translation (link is to amazon, other electronic retailers are available) and I found it to be pretty sound. There are some illustrations, but most helpful are the contextual notes which explain in some detail the backgrounds of the various characters he meets dwelling in particular upon those that are allusions to figures from medieval Florence.
Congrats!
My wife and I used selections from Rumi, e.g.:
May this marriage be blessed. May this marriage be as sweet as milk and honey. May this marriage be as intoxicating as old wine. May this marriage be fruitful like a date tree. May this marriage be full of laughter and everyday a paradise. May this marriage be a seal of compassion for here and hereafter. May this marriage be as welcome as the full moon in the night sky. Listen lovers, now you go on, as I become silent and kiss this blessed night.