Planus venter, czyli translatorskie problemy z Owidiuszem

• Authors: Agata Łuka
• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper attempts to consider the issue of physical attractiveness and perception of beauty in ancient and Renaissance Latin poetry as well as in our contemporary culture. The starting point is a phrase planus venter used by Ovid in Amores I 5, which we nowadays tend to understand as “flat belly”, because flat belly itself is regarded as one of the factors of being attractive. Ovid’s (or Corinna’s, to be exact) planus venter is a challenge for a translator, as epithet planus has nothing to do with flat stomach, but it means “smooth, shapely, regular”. We find “soft tummy” also in writings of Renaissance poets, imitating the ancients, as it is well known. Ancient art and literature portrayed woman’s beauty in its natural, real shape, whereas nowadays some irrational trends and “canons” of looking good are being created; flat belly is one of such cultural artefacts. In this situation translator of ancient poetry should not use phrases, which distort the meaning of Latin original.

• Publisher: Instytut Historii Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego
• Journal: In Gremium. Studia nad Historią, Kulturą i Polityką
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 8
• Pages: 91-102

Contributors

author

Agata Łuka