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Hi! My name is Ulysses, I suffer of a dissociative identity disorder... you can call me Odysseus too
Thread poster: Federico Zanolla (X)
Federico Zanolla (X)
Federico Zanolla (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:22
English to Italian
Apr 11, 2008

(the following post best applies to the EN->IT translators but YOU can enjoy it too!)

Hallo everybody!

I was happily reading through the finalists's entries of the 6th contest when I ran into the following note:
"(excerpt) ti ringrazio per non aver chiamato Ulisse "Odisseo"... che orrore!" (I want to thank you for not referring to Ulysses as "Odysseus"... THE SUPREME HORROR!). I was totally like "OMG W...T...F... is wrong with that poor Odysseus? I used it too...... See more
(the following post best applies to the EN->IT translators but YOU can enjoy it too!)

Hallo everybody!

I was happily reading through the finalists's entries of the 6th contest when I ran into the following note:
"(excerpt) ti ringrazio per non aver chiamato Ulisse "Odisseo"... che orrore!" (I want to thank you for not referring to Ulysses as "Odysseus"... THE SUPREME HORROR!). I was totally like "OMG W...T...F... is wrong with that poor Odysseus? I used it too...". I asked what was so totally wrong with that translation but I couldn't dissipate my doubts.

So, the question is, "What is wrong with Odisseo?" Is it just plainly wrong because "Ulisse" is a more common translation/the official equivalent? Or does it stand a chance? ▲ Collapse
 
Marian Vieyra
Marian Vieyra  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:22
Member (2007)
French to English
+ ...
Odysseus versus Ulysses Apr 11, 2008

Odysseus is the Greek for ... Ulysses, which is Latin. They are one and the same.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/o/odysseus.html

Maybe something to do with Italians claiming the legend for themselves via Latin?
 
Maria Diaconu
Maria Diaconu  Identity Verified
Romania
Local time: 05:22
English to Romanian
Nice topic :) Apr 11, 2008

Same in Romanian... we prefer the Latin form, but both are used and are correct.
 
Federico Zanolla (X)
Federico Zanolla (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:22
English to Italian
TOPIC STARTER
habits Apr 12, 2008

I had some hints that it could be due to the consuetude of using the latin version which is way more common (in Italian at least, since it seems quite the opposite for the English) than the greek translitteration.
 
nordiste
nordiste  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 04:22
English to French
+ ...
another Roman language Apr 12, 2008

In French we have no choice: Ulysses is the traveller, and Odyssée is his long journey.

In English both forms exist, but I have only seen "Odysseus" for the Greek hero.
Ulysses is just a first name ( maybe not so common.)

And of course there is Joyce's Ulysses.
 
Iwona Szymaniak
Iwona Szymaniak  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 04:22
Member
English to Polish
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Polish version Apr 25, 2008

We can use both in Polish for the hero but "Odyseusz" or "Odys" are more frequent.
The epic poem attributed to Homer and the journey are referred to as "Odyseja" (the Odyssey).
We also have "odyseja" in small letters to describe any journey full of adventures but this usage is becoming obsolete.

Iwonka
 


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Hi! My name is Ulysses, I suffer of a dissociative identity disorder... you can call me Odysseus too






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