Five dimension linguistic translation

An excellent explication of the multitude of challenges when translating languages between cultures and across millennia.

Why and how is translation so hard? Here's a little non-comparative case study to help make the process more visible. 9 words from the very start of the Odyssey, lines 1-2: ὃς μάλα πολλὰ / πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν. Syntactically easy.

— Emily Wilson (@EmilyRCWilson) August 6, 2018