the all-important seas

Romanian translation: "....(care să–şi găsească egalul în curajul dovedit) pe mare, spaţiu vital pentru atenieni."

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:the all-important seas
Romanian translation:"....(care să–şi găsească egalul în curajul dovedit) pe mare, spaţiu vital pentru atenieni."
Entered by: Bianca Fogarasi

21:26 May 9, 2006
English to Romanian translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Grecia antica
English term or phrase: the all-important seas
"Because Salamis was a victory of "the naval crowd," in the next century the influence of Athenian landless oarsmen would only increase, as they demanded greater political representation commensurate with their prowess ***on the all-important seas***."

Multumesc
Bianca Fogarasi
see the explanation
Explanation:
I tried to match the meaning as much a possible.

".... (care să –şi găsească egalul în curajul dovedit) pe mare, spaţiu vital pentru atenieni. "

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Note added at 6 ore (2006-05-10 03:30:08 GMT)
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as possible:)
Selected response from:

Cristian Brinza
Romania
Local time: 18:24
Grading comment
excelenta varianta! :) Multumesc, Cristi!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3see the explanation
Cristian Brinza
3rutele maritime strategice
Maria Diaconu
2(puterea) maritimă indispensabilă (lor)
Peter Shortall


  

Answers


51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
rutele maritime strategice


Explanation:
Nu este domeniul meu, desigur, dar m-am gândit la această soluţie, încercând să o fac să sune cât mai literar. Iată ce spune Dicţionarul enciclopedic (1966) despre insula în cauză:

Salamina - insulă stâncoasă în vestul Aticii, celebră prin victoria navală repurtată aici, în timpul războaielor medice, de flota greacă asupra flotei persane (480 î.e.n.).

Salamis - An island of Greece in the Saronic Gulf east of Athens. In an important naval battle off the island's northeast coast the Greeks, led by Themistocles, defeated the Persian fleet in 480 B.C.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/salamis

Maria Diaconu
Romania
Local time: 18:24
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian
PRO pts in category: 35
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
(puterea) maritimă indispensabilă (lor)


Explanation:
My interpretation of this is that "the all-important seas" refers to the seas in general and that the particular seas/routes which the oarsmen may have sailed on are not important here - the emphasis is on the prowess and the fact that they wanted representation to match it. To paraphrase it in other words:

"Athenian oarsmen wanted political representation to match their strength on the seas, and the seas (in general) were vitally important for Athens."

Taking it a stage further, in English this could be rephrased as "to match their indispensable maritime strength". By saying that their maritine/maritime strength was indispensable (to Athens), you're still implying, by extension, that the seas were of vital importance (they couldn't survive without this prowess). This, then, might be translated as something along the lines of "puterea maritimă indispensabilă", giving you an equally concise phrase with ultimately the same meaning as the original.

I'm sure there must be more poetic ways of expressing this interpretation (and perhaps three adjectives, including "lor", are too many - would it still work without that?) but perhaps this will inspire someone to come up with a better!

Peter Shortall
United Kingdom
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
see the explanation


Explanation:
I tried to match the meaning as much a possible.

".... (care să –şi găsească egalul în curajul dovedit) pe mare, spaţiu vital pentru atenieni. "

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 ore (2006-05-10 03:30:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

as possible:)

Cristian Brinza
Romania
Local time: 18:24
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RomanianRomanian
PRO pts in category: 86
Grading comment
excelenta varianta! :) Multumesc, Cristi!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Peter Shortall: Much better than mine! I suspect "prowess" is actually being used to mean simply "strength/power"; while "bravery" is indeed the dictionary definition, this is one of those words which is often slightly misused in English.
3 hrs

agree  Elvira Tatucu
8 hrs

agree  Iulia Matei
1 day 23 hrs
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