i will always champion finding a recent translation when reading an ancient text but i do also think there is value in learning how to read older translations and especially how to read them critically. for one thing it's a snapshot of how a work was perceived at a specific time and by a specific person, but also those translations do have literary value and may reveal something about the source text that you won't find in something newer. and it's also the case that newer translations can have many of the same flaws, because we are still in a racist misogynist etc. world.
like, never trust the word "servant" in a translation of an ancient text--that servant is inevitably a slave. if anyone says "God" singular, with a capital g, they are lying to you.* if they spend too long on particular features of a woman's body, proceed with caution.** if something sexual is being communicated via euphemism, consider that it may have been much cruder and/or more explicit in the original, especially if you're reading comedy or elegy. etc. etc. etc. learning to recognize common ways in which translation is affected by the morals and standards of a given time period is really useful.
*with the caveat that plato does sometimes reference "the god," and to be fair, plato does have the vibe of a guy who really really wanted to be monotheist and also serves as a blueprint for a ton of christian thought so i do concede that "God" may be a valid translation choice there.
** the greeks and romans were also misogynist in their descriptions of women's bodies but sometimes the translators like to one-up them. translation is not free from women who breast boobily for no known reason.
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