Zermelo 1930f

pp. 454-481

in: Ernst Zermelo, Set theory, miscellanea / Mengenlehre, varia, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

In the bibliography of Zermelo's published work one item stands out and is certain to catch the attention of mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike. In 1930 Zermelo published a German translation of a portion of Book V of the Odyssey in a Viennese journal that catered to the interests of "the friends of antiquity" (Zermelo s1930f). It is remarkable that a mathematician in his late 50's should turn humanist, translate Homer into German verse, and present a specimen of his labor of love to the educated public. Such an enterprise required time and leisure and, even more, a reading knowledge of a complex poetic dialect of ancient Greek, a sense of rhythm and meter, and a command of the German language and its literature that went far beyond the capacities of most of his academic peers. In addition, Zermelo could not have succeeded without the support of friends and colleagues in the humanities who encouraged him in his endeavor and saw to it that a significant sample of his work as a translator would be published and thus brought to the attention of the world at large.