spacestationtrustfund 's review for:

The Histories by Herodotus

3.0

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This review is of the translation by Aubrey de Sélincourt.

As the old cherished translations of great works—the Rosemary Edmonds War and Peace, the E.V. Rieu Homer, the Dorothy Sayers Divine Comedy, and so on—begin to feel almost imperceptibly dated around the edges. If they’re particularly beloved, the editors might attempt a facelift, bringing in some scholar to write a new Introduction and revise the old translation, maybe providing new notes. But such things are delaying actions only; generally speaking, every age tends to demand its own translations of the canon. — Steve Donoghue

(I would like to note, for the record, that Rieu's translation of the Iliad is a monstrosity and I despise it.)

Aubrey de Sélincourt's translation of Arrian's Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀνάβασις | Anabasis Alexandri is one of the best, and his translation of Ἰστορίαι almost makes me hate Herodotus a bit less.

Well.

Almost.

Justin Marozzi, reviewing a different translation of the same text, mentions that, in terms of translations of Herodotus, there have been:

[...] none more elegant than those of Aubrey de Sélincourt, whose delightful translation readers have loved and admired since it appeared in 1954.

I can't say I disagree.