Men in Aida

Men in Aida

Author	David Melnick
Country	United States
Subject	homophonic translation of ancient Greek into English
Publisher	Tuumba Press
Publication date	1983
Published in English	1983
OCLC	10763257

Men in Aida is a homophonic translation of Book One of Homer's Iliad into a farcical bathhouse scenario, perhaps alluding to the homoerotic aspects of ancient Greek culture. It was written by the language poet David Melnick, and is an example of poetic postmodernism. In 2015, all three books of the Iliad translated by Melnick were published by independent publishing house Uitgeverij under the title Men in Aïda.

It opens:

Men in Aida, they appeal, eh? A day, O Achilles.

Allow men in, emery Achaians. All gay ethic, eh?

Paul asked if team mousse suck, as Aida, pro, yaps in.

Corresponding to the Greek:

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,

πολλὰς δ᾽ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν

Literal translation:

The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles,

that destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans,

and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls