Back to the poem:
What we know of the watercolor (whether real or fictional) is that it
depicts a young man. We can't say whether the presentation is allegorical.
That said, translating the perfectly common Greek "eros" as Eros would
appear to limit a functioning ambiguity in the original.
Mark
At 01:06 PM 1/16/2005, you wrote:
>and here they say:
>Cupid - Eros - Amor
>The Roman love god Cupid is often equated with the Greek god Eros. Cupid is
>also called Eros by the Romans
>
>http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/cupideros/
>
>Anny Ballardini
>http://annyballardini.blogspot.com
>http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
>The aim of the poet is to awaken emotions in the soul, not to gather
>admirers.
>Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "MJ Walker" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2005 6:28 PM
>Subject: Re: Names of the god, was Re: Mark, two translations/same Cavafy
>poem
>
>
>Nom d'un dieu!! - for momentary lack of a red red Robin, I will just say
>that I think you're on the ball here, Mark - Eros, according to SOED, is
>first noted 1775, quite late (erotic being about a century earlier); La
>Fontaine's delightful *Les amours de Psiché et de Cupidon* (1669)
>generally refers to the latter as l'Amour.
>mj
>
>Mark Weiss wrote:
>
> > The Romans also played on both, or rather didn't separate them: Cupid was
> > also Amor--Love, in for example the story of Amor and Psyche in Apuleius.
> > In French, as well, Cupide is often Amour.
> >
> > I don't have an OED available, but I'm guessing that the common usage of
> > Eros in English is pretty recent. I also remember frequent use in Middle
> > English and Elizabethan poetry of Love in this sense--for instance, in
> > Chaucer's translation of the Roman de la Rose.
> >
> > Robin, are you there? It would be nice to hear from someone who unlike me
> > actually knows something (and has the necessary books).
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
> >
> > At 03:43 AM 1/16/2005, you wrote:
> >
> >> On 16/1/05 7:14 PM, "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >> > If I'm not mistaken, eros in Greek is an ordinary word meaning
> >> erotic love,
> >> > and to a Greek ear Eros the god is simply the god Love, in which case
> >> > translating Eros as Eros is anachronistic.
> >>
> >> I assumed something like that was behind Economou's choice to
> >> translate it
> >> as "love". But also, the painting of Eros, the lovely boy god, is a
> >> standard European trope. I suppose te original was able to play on both
> >> meanings more directly...
> >>
> >> Best
> >>
> >> A
> >>
> >>
> >> Alison Croggon
> >>
> >> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> >> Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
> >> Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
> >
> >
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