Goethes Erlkönig — altgriechisch

Abstract

In 1860, Carl Ferdinand Crain, the principal of the „Große Stadtschule“ in the city of Wismar, translated Goethe’s poem „Der Erlkönig“ into ancient Greek. He titled it „Mormo anassa“. In the present contribution, Crain’s background as a translator is more closely examined, both in the light of the school’s history and from an academic perspective. From the standpoint of translation theory Crain’s version of „Der Erlkönig“ as opposed to his earlier Greek translations of Goethe’s and Schiller’s stage plays („Iphigenie“ and „Jungfrau von Orleans“), proves to be an interesting attempt to project on antiquity the contemporary Romantic poetic world.