Tim,
I have been most impressed by what I've seen in the Bakeoff. Hadn't thought (for some reason) of wondering what my father's thoughts would be, but it's worth pondering. These are, by and large, excellent translations that give the lie to the dichotomy between beauty and accuracy.
More as more occurs to me, perhaps. One thought: my father and John Mclean in 1936 translated 10 plays of Euripides into serviceable prose, as a sort of antidote to Gilbert Murray (see my essay "The Many Lives of Moses Hadas" on
www.rachelhadas.com). Moses thought Murray's Swinburnian floweriness was an added strike against the hapless reader, perhaps on the G.I. Bill, making his way through tragedy in translation.
Thanks for writing.
Rachel
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