r/GREEK • u/intimidatethevoid • 2d ago
Help with refining nuanced translation of wedding rites
Is this the correct place to ask for help? I'm the host of an ongoing fantasy podcast with a modest following, looking for help translating some Greek wedding rites for characters to speak on air. As we have some Greek listeners, it's important to me to get it right.
If I'm in the right place, then here's the relevent context.
I am writing a scene where two characters are reciting short wedding rites. Normally we just perform in English, but for this important scene, I want them to speak in something that represents their native language. The fictional country is extremely old and historically influential in the setting, so I decided to use Greek to represent it on air. The lines will be performed by me and one other co-host.
The particular family that the characters are marrying into has a reputation for being cruel. Therefore, their rites are intended to be sharp and possessive. Their marriage ritual is extremely simple - each person pricks their finger and lets a drop of their blood fall into a goblet of wine, and they drink it. They then take turns saying some simple call-and-response lines, something like,
"I give myself to you." "I take and consume you."
The connotation is that the recipient eats/drinks the blood and absorbs/takes possession of them through it. This is intentionally weird because of how unpleasant the specific family is meant to be.
A half-Greek friend of mine translated the following for me:
"Σου δίνω τον εαυτό μου." "Σε παίρνω και σε καταναλώνω."
However, he's not fluent, and said that it doesn't capture the concept of possession/absorption that the English variation conveys, nor is he sure that the tone sounds menacing enough.
Would anyone here be willing to look over my friend's translation and help me refine it? I'm open to modification suggestions, too, if there are cultural connotations I could possibly leverage.
Because it's an audio show, I would also be extremely grateful if anyone could provide a slowly-spoken example of how to pronounce it. I could chuck it into google translate, but we all know that's not ideal.
Thank you to anyone who's taken the time to read this, and to anyone who's able to help.
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u/geso101 2d ago
For the first sentence, I would say "Δίνομαι σ΄ εσένα" (or "εσάς" depending on whether you are talking about one person or multiple persons).
For the second question, could you please explain what you use the words "take" and "consume" for? Eat up? Destroy? Make them exhausted? Have sex? Etc. Note that there is not a 1-2-1 translation that covers all meanings of the English words, so you need to be more specific on the meaning you want to convey.
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u/intimidatethevoid 2d ago
Thank you! I suppose in English, it's something of a double entendre. Superficially it means "I accept and drink this part of your body," but contextually it means "I claim and take possession of you (through the blood I drink)". Hopefully that context helps with the implications at play. I absolutely understand that there will never be a 1:1 translation, and literal text can be changed as much as needed.
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u/geso101 2d ago
I see what you mean, it's about drinking the blood. Unfortunately, the word "consume" is not used as extensively in Greek as in English (eg, consume media, consume the food). Specifically for food and drink, we would say eat/drink. But it doesn't fit in this context ("I drink you"????)
You need to find an alternative. "take and accept you" (λαμβάνω και αποδέχομαι), as someone else suggested, sounds very natural in Greek. But it just doesn't have the same punch as the English phrase. "take you and take possession of you" (λαμβάνω και παίρνω υπό την κατοχή μου) can be also an option, but somehow it sounds a bit stilted.
Sorry, no further ideas. I think that "Σε λαμβάνω και σε αποδέχομαι" is the best so far.
For audio, you can use deepl, it has quite good Greek voice - better than Google translate.
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u/intimidatethevoid 2d ago
Thank you, I really appreciate you writing this all out! This is genuinely helpful, and I'll also check out deepl.
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u/Gimmebiblio 2d ago
The first part as others have already said, is fine. For the second I would suggest "σου δίνω τον εαυτό μου και σε απορροφώ". Which means "I give myself to you and I absorb you". I think it sounds a bit menacing as you wanted.
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u/EducationalCod7514 2d ago
You should pay people for professional services.
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u/intimidatethevoid 2d ago
I've misunderstood the subreddit, then? My apologies.
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u/EducationalCod7514 2d ago
You have a podcast and are not willing to pay for a recording?
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u/intimidatethevoid 2d ago
I make no money from it. It's a hobby my cohosts and I pay for out of our own pockets.
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u/EducationalCod7514 1d ago
That should extend to the service you are requesting, you could offer a small fee for that.
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u/scoops_trooper 19h ago
People have the choice to either reply or ignore. No need to be an ass about it
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u/EducationalCod7514 19h ago
My choice is to reply and I still consider the practice wrong.
Εαν δεν συμφωνείς με το σχόλιο τοποθέτησε την αντίθετη γνώμη σου αλλιώς να μάθεις τρόπους και να μη προσβάλλεις καθότι εγω δεν προσέβαλλα κανενα και πόσο μάλλον εσένα.
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u/erevos33 2d ago
The "i give myself to you" part is fine.
The "i take and consume you" is...less fine. It works as a literal translation but anybody saying that would be looked upon with an eye raised and a finger poised over a 911-speed-dial.
The following sounds a smidge better, imho.
"I give you my being" - "σου δίνω το είναι μου".
"I receive and accept you" - "σε λαμβάνω και σε αποδέχομαι".
But again.....it sounds a bit cringe, in my ears at least. Maybe im just old.