21st Century Classical Greek -- caveat on translation

Book I section 29.  

Κορίνθιοι δὲ οὐδὲν τούτων ὑπήκουον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ πλήρεις αὐτοῖς ἦσαν αἱ νῆες καὶ οἱ ξύμμαχοι παρῆσαν, προπέμψαντες κήρυκα πρότερον πόλεμον προεροῦντα Κερκυραίοις, ἄραντες ἑβδομήκοντα ναυσὶ καὶ πέντε δισχιλίοις τε ὁπλίταις ἔπλεον ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐπίδαμνον Κερκυραίοις ἐναντία πολεμήσοντες:

[2] ἐστρατήγει δὲ τῶν μὲν νεῶν Ἀριστεὺς ὁ Πελλίχου καὶ Καλλικράτης ὁ Καλλίου καὶ Τιμάνωρ ὁ Τιμάνθους, τοῦ δὲ πεζοῦ Ἀρχέτιμός τε ὁ Εὐρυτίμου καὶ Ἰσαρχίδας ὁ Ἰσάρχου.

[3] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἐγένοντο ἐν Ἀκτίῳ τῆς Ἀνακτορίας γῆς, οὗ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνός ἐστιν, ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τοῦ Ἀμπρακικοῦ κόλπου, οἱ Κερκυραῖοι κήρυκά τε προύπεμψαν αὐτοῖς ἐν ἀκατίῳ ἀπεροῦντα μὴ πλεῖν ἐπὶ σφᾶς καὶ τὰς ναῦς ἅμα ἐπλήρουν, ζεύξαντές τε τὰς παλαιὰς ὥστε πλωίμους εἶναι καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἐπισκευάσαντες.

[4] ὡς δὲ ὁ κῆρύξ τε ἀπήγγειλεν οὐδὲν εἰρηναῖον παρὰ τῶν Κορινθίων καὶ αἱ νῆες αὐτοῖς ἐπεπλήρωντο οὖσαι ὀγδοήκοντα (τεσσαράκοντα γὰρ Ἐπίδαμνον ἐπολιόρκουν), ἀνταναγαγόμενοι καὶ παραταξάμενοι ἐναυμάχησαν:

[5] καὶ ἐνίκησαν οἱ Κερκυραῖοι παρὰ πολὺ καὶ ναῦς πέντε καὶ δέκα διέφθειραν τῶν Κορινθίων. τῇ δὲ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ αὐτοῖς ξυνέβη καὶ τοὺς τὴν Ἐπίδαμνον πολιορκοῦντας παραστήσασθαι ὁμολογίᾳ ὥστε τοὺς μὲν ἐπήλυδας ἀποδόσθαι, Κορινθίους δὲ δήσαντας ἔχειν ἕως ἂν ἄλλο τι δόξῃ.

In subsection 3, the bolded phrase is reversed in Jowett. That only works if you happen to have a written map with all the place names marked on it – or if the landmark has been torn down. Which is how things were in Jowett’s time. Thucydides’ audience knows where the temple of Apollo is, and Mr. T uses that to mark where the mouth of the gulf is.

Jowett also completely misses the phrase about the Korinthians getting men for the ships while he does translate the one for the Kerkyraeans in subsection 4. And he drops the phrase in subsection 3 about getting the new ships ready for sailing; he concentrates on repairs to the old ships.

Thucydides has a spoiler at the start of subsection 5 that Jowett once again transposes later in the sentence.

Jowett adds a phrase to subsection 5 about “forming line” which is not in Thucydides. Smith also has it in the Loeb version. It is at the end of subsection 4, another case of transposition.

At a party, one of the guests asked another who was Russian, what translation of Tolstoy the latter would recommend. The Russian said why would I read a translation when I can read Russian.

If you want to see what the writer really said, you need to be able to read the source document. A translation will never do it. Possibly not even some of those critical editions, which may be more concerned with where the text came from that with what it means.