Everything you need to know to read Homer's "Odyssey" - Jill Dash

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

A close encounter with a man-eating giant,

Bliski susret sa džinom ljudožderom,

a sorceress who turns men into pigs,

čarobnica koja pretvara muškarce u svinje,

a long-lost king taking back his throne.

davno zabludeli kralj koji vraća svoj presto.

On their own, any of these make great stories,

Svaka od ovih priča je sjajna sama za sebe,

but each is just one episode in the "Odyssey,"

ali svaka od njih je tek epizoda u "Odiseji", poemi od 12000 stihova

a 12,000-line poem spanning years of Ancient Greek history, myth, and legend.

koja obuhvata godine antičke grčke istorije, mitova i legendi.

How do we make sense of such a massive text

Kako da pronađemo smisao u tako ogromnom tekstu

that comes from and tells of a world so far away?

koji dolazi iz tako dalekog sveta i pripoveda o njemu?

The fact that we can read the "Odyssey" at all is pretty incredible,

Sama činjenica da uopšte možemo da čitamo "Odiseju" je neverovatna,

as it was composed before the Greek alphabet appeared in the 8th century BCE.

s obzirom na to da je sastavljena pre nastanka grčkog alfabeta u 8. veku p.n.e.

It was made for listeners rather than readers,

Nastala je pre za slušaoce nego za čitaoce

and was performed by oral poets called rhapsodes.

i izvodili su je usmeni pesnici koje su nazivali rapsodima.

Tradition identifies its author as a blind man named Homer.

Tradicija određuje kao njenog autora slepca po imenu Homer.

But no one definitively knows whether he was real or legendary.

Ali niko zasigurno ne zna da li je bio stvaran ili legenda.

The earliest mentions of him occur centuries after his era.

Najranija pominjanja o njemu se dešavaju vekovima nakon njegove ere.

And the poems attributed to him seem to have been changed

A pesme koje su mu pripisane čini se da su menjane

and rearranged many times by multiple authors

i preuređivane mnogo puta od strane više autora

before finally being written down in their current form.

pre nego što su konačno zapisane u trenutnom obliku.

In fact, the word rhapsode means stitching together,

Zapravo, reč rapsod znači ušivanje,

as these poets combined existing stories, jokes, myths, and songs

jer su ovu pesnici kombinovali postojeće priče, šale, mitove i pesme

into a single narrative.

u jedinstven narativ.

To recite these massive epics live,

Kako bi recitovali ove obimne epove uživo,

rhapsodes employed a steady meter,

rapsodi su koristili postojan metar,

along with mnemonic devices,

uz mnemoničke tehnike,

like repetition of memorized passages or set pieces.

poput ponavljanja upamćenih pasusa ili skupova delova.

These included descriptions of scenery and lists of characters,

Ovo je uključivalo opise pejzaža ili spiskove likova,

and helped the rhapsode keep their place in the narrative,

i pomagalo je rapsodu da ne izgubi mesto u narativu,

just as the chorus or bridge of a song helps us to remember the next verses.

baš kao što nam refren i prelaz u pesmi pomažu da zapamtimo sledeće stihove.

Because most of the tales were familiar to the audience,

Kako je većina ovih priča bila poznata publici,

it was common to hear the sections of the poem out of order.

bilo je uobičajeno da se čuju delovi pesme van redosleda.

At some point, the order became set in stone

U nekom trenutku redosled je postajao zacrtan,

and the story was locked into place as the one we read today.

a priča je zaključana u mestu kao što je danas čitamo.

But since the world has changed a bit in the last several thousand years,

Ali kako se svet malčice promenio u poslednjih nekoliko hiljada godina,

it helps to have some background before jumping in.

pomaže nam da znamo pozadinu pre nego što se bacimo na čitanje.

The "Odyssey" itself is a sequel to Homer's other famous epic, the "Iliad,"

"Odiseja" je nastavak Homerovog drugog poznatog dela, "Ilijade",

which tells the story of the Trojan War.

koja pripoveda priču o Trojanskom ratu.

If there's one major theme uniting both poems, it's this:

Ako postoji jedna glavna tema koja ujedinjuje obe poeme, to je ova:

do not, under any circumstances, incur the wrath of the gods.

nemojte, pod bilo kakvim okolnostima da navučete na sebe bes bogova.

The Greek Pantheon is a dangerous mix of divine power and human insecurity,

Grčki Panteon je opasna mešavina božanske moći i ljudskih nesigurnosti,

prone to jealousy and grudges of epic proportions.

sklon ljubomori i kivnosti episkih razmera.

And many of the problems faced by humans in the poems are caused by their hubris,

A mnogi problemi s kojima se ljudi suočavaju u poemama su izazvani hubrisom,

or excessive pride in believing themselves superior to the gods.

iliti preteranom gordošću zbog njihovog uverenja da su iznad bogova.

The desire to please the gods was so great

Žudnja da se ugodi bogovima je tolika

that the Ancient Greeks traditionally welcomed all strangers

da su antički Grci tradicionalno primali sve strance

into their homes with generosity

dobrodušno u svoje domove,

for fear that the strangers might be gods in disguise.

iz straha da bi stranci mogli da budu prerušeni bogovi.

This ancient code of hospitality was called xenia.

Ovaj antički kodeks gostoprimstva se nazivao "ksenija".

It involved hosts providing their guests with safety, food, and comfort,

Pdrazumevao je da domaćini obezbeđuju gostima bezbednost, hranu i udobnost,

and the guests returning the favor with courtesy and gifts if they had them.

a gosti su vraćali uslugu uljudnošću i darovima, ako su ih imali.

Xenia has a significant role in the "Odyssey,"

Ksenija ima značajnu ulogu u "Odiseji",

where Odysseus in his wanderings is the perpetual guest,

gde je Odisej tokom svojih lutanja večiti gost,

while in his absence, his clever wife Penelope plays non-stop host.

dok u njegovom odsustvu njegova pametna žena Penelopa ima ulogu stalnog domaćina.

The "Odyssey" recounts all of Odysseus's years of travel,

"Odiseja" pripoveda sve Odisejeve godine putovanja,

but the narrative begins in medias res in the middle of things.

ali pripovedanje počinje "in medias res", u središtu stvari.

Ten years after the Trojan War, we find our hero trapped on an island,

Deset godina nakon Trojanskog rata,

zatičemo našeg heroja zarobljenog na ostrvu,

still far from his native Ithaca and the family he hasn't seen for 20 years.

i dalje daleko od njegove rodne Itake i porodice koju nije video 20 godina.

Because he's angered the sea god Poseidon by blinding his son, a cyclops,

Zato što je razbesneo boga mora Posejdona, oslepivši njegovog sina kiklopa,

Odysseus's passage home has been fraught with mishap after mishap.

Odisejev put do kuće je ispunjen nedaćom za nedaćom.

With trouble brewing at home and gods discussing his fate,

Dok problemi bukte kod kuće a bogovi raspravljaju o njegovoj sudbini,

Odysseus begins the account of those missing years to his hosts.

Odisej počinje da izveštava svoje domaćine o tim izgubljenim godinama.

One of the most fascinating things about the "Odyssey"

Jedna od najočaravajućijih stvari kod "Odiseje"

is the gap between how little we know about its time period

je jaz između toga koliko malo znamo o tom vremenskom razdoblju

and the wealth of detail the text itself contains.

i obilje detalja koje sami tekst sadrži.

Historians, linguists, and archeologists

Istoričari, lingvisti i arheolozi

have spent centuries searching for the ruins of Troy

su proveli vekove tragajući za ruševinama Troje

and identifying which islands Odysseus visited.

i određujući koja je ostrva posetio Odisej.

Just like its hero, the 24-book epic has made its own long journey

Baš poput njenog heroja, ep od 24 knjige je prešao sopstveni dugi put

through centuries of myth and history

kroz vekove mita i istorije

to tell us its incredible story today.

kako bi nam danas pripovedao svoju neverovatnu priču.