The following discussion is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as
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Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
... that in translating the Republic of
Plato(bust pictured), Desmond Lee preferred "magnificent myth" to what he considered the conventional mistranslation "
noble lie"?
That might suggest the mistranslation was by Plato. Having forgotten all the
English he learnt while travelling with
Doctor Who, what he wrote was not "noble lie" but "γενναίον ψεύδος"! Do you prefer Alt2?
Moonraker (
talk)
08:13, 12 August 2011 (UTC)reply
Alt2 ... that in translating the Republic of
Plato(bust pictured), Desmond Lee rendered "γενναίον ψεύδος" as "magnificent myth", considering the conventional "
noble lie" a mistranslation?
My point is that if Plato did not mean to suggest a falsehood, then "
noble lie" was not his phrase. I have tweaked the original hook slightly, and it's now 168 characters, which is well within
the limit. One reason why Alt1 is shorter is that it leaves out "(bust pictured)", and I don't see where that would go in Alt1.
Moonraker (
talk)
11:41, 12 August 2011 (UTC)reply