I think the disagreement about how Wilson translates Telemachus’ dialogue, and how Tom Holland seems to be portraying Telemachus in the new Odyssey movie, is really linguistically interesting! I’m about halfway through the Wilson Odyssey translation, and I’m coming at it as a student who’s read Fagle’s translation for years and a Classical Studies student. I’ve really been liking a lot of her work to incorporate language into a modern sense, and a major part of that has been her translation of many words as things we currently deem as ‘informal.’
The biggest controversy I’ve seen regarding Telemachus’ portrayal in the Odyssey movie has been his use of the word “daddy” to refer to Odysseus. I’ve also seen a lot of discussion about Odysseus using phrases like “let’s go!” These words and phrases carry a distinctly informal sense in our current vocabulary, but I think Wilson, Nolan, and Holland are actually all supported by the Greek texts we have in the directions that they’ve been going with these portrayals and translations.
Ancient Greek, for the majority of its history, did not have one unified dialect. Instead, we see a lot of regional and chronological dialects and other variations, but they all share a general base and some vocabulary. The most important thing is we see a consistent grammatical structure throughout these dialects, with only some variation! For instance, all of Ancient Greek was considered a tonal/pitch language, but some dialects stressed certain tones or accents over others. One thing I find super interesting (and exciting!) about Ancient Greek is that it does not use verb conjugation to distinguish formality. Unlike some languages we have today, such as Spanish or Korean, the same words and endings are used to refer to everyone. If it is necessary to distinguish formality, it is done so through vocabulary.
This is particularly interesting for how Tom Holland is portraying Telemachus, as he stated in some recent interviews that he believed calling Odysseus “daddy” would best portray their relationship. This was met with a lot of confusion and condemnation, primarily because, in our modern vocabulary, the word feels very informal. When we think of kings and princes, we really think of formality and tradition. To us, we attribute those characteristics and meaning to words like “father,” which just seem a lot more important. But, like I just mentioned, the Ancient Greeks didn’t seem to have this same sense of linguistic formality. We know, from media that has been preserved, that there was certainly a long-standing and culturally important social hierarchy. It was one based on religion and mythos, and tradition and honor were certainly a large part of that. But these aspects just weren’t conveyed in language the same way they are today. Unless certain words are used, such as calling someone ‘king’ or ‘master’ while addressing them, the language really stays the same.
This means that, in the texts we have of the Odyssey, Telemachus is addressing his father the same way that any ordinary Greek citizen would address their father. There is no special word or version of the word πατέρ (pater), which simply means a sire, a father, or a dad. For a long time, translators have fallen into a bit of a trap where they translate Ancient Greek words with a sense of formality, believing it to be more important/elevated than the language that the common people speak. For a long time, and in many circles to this day, Ancient Greek and Latin were used as symbols of the upper class, and translation work was meant to uphold that. So a lot of our dictionary definitions and older translations of important works tend to reflect that feeling of formality. But in reality, there isn’t much to indicate that this should be the case!
Because of the general lack of formality indicators, it is often up to the translators to use contextual evidence to find an appropriate translation. So, maybe tom holland’s portrayal would be inappropriate if Telemachus has been stilted and overly formal when meeting Odysseus. But he really isn’t! It’s actually a very beautiful scene in the Ancient Greek. Imagine a young man, forced to live a life without his dad because of a war that his family and kingdom had no real stake in, finally meeting with his dad. His dad who had already started solving problems that had been plaguing the kingdom for twenty years. Of course there was joy and relief and love! It makes more sense for me that this young man, finally reunited with this paternal figure he had been chasing for two decades, would allow himself some softness and familiarity. I think Telemachus calling Odysseus “daddy” is a beautiful read on the context, and I believe that, due to the reasons I outlined, it’s supported by contextual evidence!
Generally, I think we tend to misattribute a sense of formality and finality to Ancient Greek media. Odysseus, though a wise and cunning man, was also a warrior king, one who lived through the horrors of war and surrounded himself with equally young and crude men. It makes sense to me that he would speak in phrases that seem informal at times. Similarly, Odysseus is such a powerful figure because he’s able to appeal to so many different types of characters. He may sway kings and courts and gods with his eloquence, yes, but he also must convince his rowdy group of uneducated young warriors to follow him. He must appeal to them just as much, and he must bargain with them to survive his ordeal. If he only spoke eloquently and formally, he would have been dead at the very start of the Trojan war. We would not have the odyssey if we did not have an Odysseus who knew when to make crude jokes!
(Side note: Odysseus is actually really funny in the Greek texts we have that portray him - he is usually found making a ‘wise crack’. I hate the character but it’s one of his most appealing characteristics)
All that is to say, I think that people don’t really realize that the Ancient Greeks were not an immovable, rigid people. They were humans like the rest of us, and they had live and joy and humor. The storytellers that gave us this myth certainly wove those aspects into the characters, and I think that this modern iteration seems to be doing a good job at relaying that aspect. I can’t really speak to the rest of it bc I haven’t seen anything outside of trailers and interviews yet, though!
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