The Modern Greek Translation of Petronius’ Satyrica by Aris Alexandrou
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/analecta44202318211Keywords:
Aris Alexandrou, Petronius, Satyrica, Grimal, Ernout, Sullivan, Vagenas, Meraklis, translationAbstract
Aris Alexandrou (real name: Aristotle Vassiliadis, 1922-1978) was a Greek poet, prose writer and translator (mainly of Russian literature). His only translation from Latin is that of Petronius’ Satyrica in 1971. The book was published in 1985, seven years after his death. Alexandrou’s translation is one of the three Greek translations of this Latin work that have been made to date; the other two are by Vagenas and Meraklis. All of these books were produced within two years of each other (1970-1971), a fact which proves that Fellini’s Satyricon (1969) piqued the Greek translators’ interest in rendering for the first time into their native tongue Petronius’ work. In this paper, I study Alexandrou’s book, which contains: a) an introduction providing information on the Roman author and his work; b) his translation into Modern Greek; and c) several footnotes. I identify the sources he followed in these parts and examine five passages of his trans-lation. At the end of the paper, I draw my conclusions.
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