Stanley F. Lombardo creëert vertalingen van klassieke epossen met een uitgesproken volkse stijl, waarbij gespreks Engels de voorkeur krijgt boven formele tonen. Zijn werk is bewust ontworpen voor mondelinge voordracht, met als doel de ervaring van oude Griekse voordrachten te recreëren. Lombardo's aanpak brengt fundamentele teksten nieuw leven in, waardoor ze toegankelijk en boeiend worden voor hedendaagse lezers door middel van dynamische en performatieve uitvoeringen.
The Dionysiaca of Nonnus of Panopolis
Provides the first English verse translation of one of the most extraordinary poems of the Greek literary tradition, the Dionysiaca of Nonnus of Panopolis. The Dionysiaca is by far the longest poem surviving from the classical world, a massive mythological epic stretching to over 20,000 lines, written in the tradition of Homer.
"Gripping... Lombardo's achievement is all the more striking when you consider the difficulties of his task... (He) manages to be respectful of Homer's dire spirit while providing on nearly every page some wonderfully fresh refashioning of his Greek. The result is a vivid and disarmingly hardbitten reworking of a great classic." — Daniel Mendelsohn, The New York Times Book Review
This version of the Tao Te Ching, translated by Thomas Cleary, presents the classic text in a unique light, through the eyes of the Zen master Takuan Soho, who lived from 1573 to 1645. Takuan was an acerbic, witty, free spirit who became a seminal figure in Rinzai Zen. He was a painter, poet, author, calligrapher, gardener, and a tea master. He was also a confidante and teacher to shoguns, the famed swordsman Yagyu Munenori, and many other powerful and famous figures, including (according to legend) Miyamoto Musashi. True to the teachings of the Tao Te Ching itself, as well as to the tradition of Zen, Takuan draws from everyday experience and common sense, to reveal the basic sanity of nature and the inherent wholeness of life. Takuan reveals how the Tao Te Ching applies to a wide range of concerns, including health, personal relationships, and individual lifestyle. He interprets the text through a philosophical and psychological lens, and also elucidates its radical social and political concepts.