I’m pleased to announce here the launch of my book, Ὁ ἐπὶ Τροίᾱν Πόλεμος (the Trojan War).
The novella is a translation and adaptation of Bellum Troianum by Brian Gronewoller, it’s a 5000 word novella for Elementary-Mid readers. It’s a great little book, and I recommend it to you! Today I want to spend some time reflecting on the writing/translating process that lead to this volume, and what it has taught me for future work.
Origins
Brian and I spoke initially about these types of projects back in July 2023. We shared a common background in Patristics and in Latin teaching, and independently of all my work, Brian had been moving more and more into communicative practices, and the novella ‘movement’, and involved in writing and publishing his own works. I served as a reader for some of his Latin novellas (and I’m glad to say I’ve read a few of the other Greek novellas out there as well), and we got to discussing the need for Greek works too. But even at that meeting, we put this project on the table: it seemed like low-hanging fruit to take an already written Latin novella about the Trojan war and make it Greek. Perfect subject matter, pre-written materials, piece of cake!
Of course, anyone who has ever translated anything (which includes me) knows that it’s never so simple. Firstly there’s the many things that intrude upon my time and life, which have sabotaged several projects of mine in the last few years. Some are postponed more than others. Secondly, translation is an art in itself, and as I dove into translating this one, I soon realised curious features about the twin daughters Latin and Greek. There are words and phrases and expressions that are very straightforward in Latin, or common, or easily understood. And then I realise that (i) I actually have no idea how to say ‘simple thing X’ in Greek; or (ii) there’s no real corresponding Greek structure or phrase; sometimes (iii) I go digging and hunting and learn something new about Greek altogether.
How long did the book take to actually produce?
Not 2 years, really. I worked in fits and starts, and when I was in the zone, got quite a bit done very quickly. Confirming to myself that I can really do a lot of good Greek work in good time, provided everything else in my life stays put. Proofing, having readers look at it, compiling the index and checking that, were all valuable processes that took more time but have made the final product much better than it would have been.
Then there’s the headache of Greek fonts and macrons. There are very few books out there with macrons for long iota, upsilon, and alpha. I’m a big advocate for those, and so I include them in my own writing when I can, and for this book I made my best efforts to get them right, and right from the start. Getting them to print correctly on the page in a Greek font is another issue. Combining multiple diacritics, especially if you have three of them, stretches unicode to its limit and some unicode choices weren’t (in hindsight) the best. Mostly, though, it’s about a font being willing and able to render combinations with macrons correctly. That was a headache, mostly for Brian, but he persisted at my behest, and I am glad for it.
Who is the book for?
The novella is rated as Elementary-Mid on the ERF scale. It uses a variety of tenses and structures as needed, it’s not ‘grammar-sheltered’ but vocab sheltered. This kind of data is available on the shop page, which is excellent. I think you could read this at all sorts of levels, since every word is glossed in context, and collocations or phrases are also glossed appropriately. Grammar isn’t explained, but that’s the point. You should be able to read it with a range of Greek ability, and I’d love to hear feedback from people reading it and their experiences.
How to use it?
Ancient Greek learners, like all language learners, need comprehensible input, and extensive reading is a great way to get that. But we need a lot more reading material suitable for learners at all stages. This is one, small drop of reading material, but hopefully one of many to come. Read it like a story, enjoy it; read it with friends; do Q&A about it. Pull it apart. Write fan-fiction off the side of Homer. Read it to your kids while they sleep.
What’s next?
I have at least one new novella in mind, as well as work on Galilaiathen and LGPSI, these will be my writing foci for the next few months.
Where to buy?
Yes, correct question!
If you’re in the United States, please buy direct from the publisher. It’s better for them, better for me, and better for the world.
If you’re not in the USA, you can purchase through localised amazon. e.g. the australian site here.
E-book versions are available.