The Reception of Antigone in Brazil through Guilherme de Almeida’s Translation

Abstract

The translation of Sophocles’ Antigone by Guilherme de Almeida (1890-1969) – or “transcription”, as the translator preferred to call it, originally published in 1952 – is an achievement whose scope can be glimpsed by an observation about its reception by experts in the Greek language and literature. Conceived for the theater, the modernist poet’s Antigone was presented at the Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia on August 21, 1952; with a cast of actors renowned in Brazil, the play was a great success with the public by the standards of the time. The communicability of the translated text, demonstrated since its appearance on the scene, resists today, as I intend to demonstrate in this article, due to its qualities related to the prioritization of a rhythm constructed from a path of familiarization with the original text.