Stanley Lombardo

thumb|The person who casts off desires,who acts free from craving and lust,indifferent to "I, my, me,"that person will arrive at peace. Stanley F. "Stan" Lombardo (alias Hae Kwang; born June 19, 1943) is an American Classicist, and former professor of Classics at the University of Kansas. He is best known for his translations of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. The style of his translations is a more vernacular one, emphasizing conversational English rather than the formal tone of some older American English translations of classical verse. Lombardo designs his translations to be performed orally, as they were in ancient Greece. He also performs the poems, and has recorded them as audiobooks. In performance he also likes to play the drums, much like Ezra Pound. Quotes Translations Works and Days and Theogony (1993) Works and Days and Theogony (Hackett Publishing Company, 1993), 978-0-87220-179-8 We know how to tell many believable lies,But also, when we want to, how to speak the plain truth. Theogony, lines 28–29 Whoever escapes marriageAnd women's harm, comes to deadly old ageWithout any son to support him. Theogony, lines 607–609 There's no way to get around the mind of Zeus. Theogony, line 617 Iliad (1997) Iliad (Hackett Publishing Company, 1997), 0-87220-352-2 Rage:          Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,Black and murderous, that cost the GreeksIncalculable pain. Book I, opening lines Human generations are like leaves in their seasons.The wind blows them to the ground, but the treeSprouts new ones when spring comes again.Men too. Their generations come and go. Book VI, lines 149–152; Glaucus to Diomedes. It was glorious to see—if your heart were iron,And you could keep from grieving at all the pain. Book XIII, lines 355–356 thumb|Do lions make peace treaties with men? Do wolves and lambs agree to get along? thumb|I have borne what no man who has walked this earth has ever yet borne.I have kissed the hand of the man who killed my son. Ah, my friend, if you and I could onlyGet out of the war alive and thenimmortal and ageless all of our days,I would never again fight among the foremostOr send you into battle where men win glory.But as it is, death is everywhereIn more shapes that we can count,And since no mortal is immune or can escape,Let's go forward, either to give gloryTo another man, or get glory from him. Book XX, lines 333–342; Sarpedon to Glaucus. Don't try to cut any deals with me, Hector.Do lions make peace treaties with men?Do wolves and lambs agree to get along? Book XXII, lines 287–289; spoken by Achilles. I have borne what no manWho has walked this earth has ever yet borne.I have kissed the hand of the man who killed my son. Book XXIV, lines 541–543; Priam to Achilles. Odyssey (2000) Odyssey (Hackett Publishing Company, 2000), 978-0-87220-485-0 And for yourself, may the gods grant youYour heart's desire, a husband and a home,And the blessing of a harmonious life.For nothing is greater or finer than this,When a man and woman live togetherWith one heart and mind, bringing joyTo their friends and grief to their foes. Book VI, lines 183–189; Odysseus to Nausicaa. Don't try to sell me on death, Odysseus.I'd rather be a hired hand back up on earth,Slaving away for some poor dirt farmer,Than lord it over all these withered dead. Book XI, lines 510–513; spoken by the ghost of Achilles. Sappho's Poems and Fragments (2002) Sappho's Poems and Fragments (Hackett Publishing Company, 2002), 978-0-87220-591-8 Shimmering,iridescent,deathless Aphrodite. Frag. 1 Some say an army on horseback,some say on foot, and some say shipsare the most beautiful thingson this black earth,but I sayit is whatever you love. Frag. 31 The moon has set,And the Pleiades.Midnight.The hour has gone by.I sleep alone. Frag. 72 Aeneid (2005) Aeneid (Hackett Publishing Company, 2005), 978-0-87220-732-5 Your mission, Roman, is to rule the world.These will be your arts: to establish peace,To spare the humbled, and to conquer the proud. Book VI, lines 1016–1018; Anchises to Aeneas. Trust in Mind (2008) Zen Sourcebook (Hackett Publishing Company, 2008), 978-0-87220-909-1 The Way is calm and wide,Not easy, not difficult.But small minds get lost.Hurrying, they fall behind.Clinging, they go too far,Sure to take a wrong turn.Just let it be! In the end,Nothing goes, nothing stays. The Hsin-hsin-ming of Seng-ts'an, lines 61–68 Inferno (2008) Inferno (Hackett Publishing Company, 2008), 978-0-87220-917-6 Through me is the way to the city of woe.Through me is the way to sorrow eternal.Through me is the way to the lost below. Canto III, lines 1–3 Statius: Achilleid (2015) Statius: Achilleid (Hackett Publishing Company, 2015), 978-1-62466-406-9 Achilles—bring back the story, Goddess,of the formidable hero descended through Aeacus from thundering Jupiter, but denied His heaven,his deeds indeed famous through Homeric song,but with much more to celebrate. Book One, opening lines thumb|When the defiant boy, whose heart had never trembled,saw this girl at the head of her troop of companionshe stiffened, and every bone in his bodyabsorbed liquid fire. When the defiant boy, whose heart had never trembled,saw this girl at the head of her troop of companionshe stiffened, and every bone in his bodyabsorbed liquid fire. Book One, p. 12 Bhagavad Gita (2019) Bhagavad Gita (Hackett Publishing Company, 2019), 978-1-62466-788-6 The person who casts off desires,who acts free from craving and lust,indifferent to "I, my, me,"that person will arrive at peace. Chapter 2, lines 71–74 External links Category:People from New Orleans Category:Classical scholars Category:Educators from the United States Category:Translators from the United States Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Translators of Homer