ABSTRACT
This paper has arisen out of work in progress on a translation of both the G and the E versions of Digenes Akrites, which is scheduled to appear in a new bilingual series of medieval texts in translation. The translation is intended to be plain, unvarnished, in prose and suitable for Greekless students who come to this text through courses in medieval history or comparative literature; it will be accompanied by a succinct commentary. It is aimed at, for example, the needs of a group of Greekless students in Sydney taking the M.A. in Medieval Studies who, interested in the development of medieval epic, regularly lament the eccentricities of Mavrogordato, are not particularly impressed by Hull and lose themselves in the maze of secondary literature (Mavrogordato 1956; Hull 1972). Preparing the translation has meant recollating the manuscripts and producing revised editions, which are likely to be conservative rather than revolutionary. This paper represents an interim comment on points that have struck me afresh whilst working through G.
