This translator takes the task very seriously, and is taken seriously by other professionals in her domain of expertise. I don't know how to find a stronger sig

This translator takes the task very seriously, and is taken seriously by other professionals in her domain of expertise. I don't know how to find a stronger signal of seriousness than that. Her introduction to the odyssey is actually a very interesting essay about the constraints and dynamics of translating ancient texts, it's definitely worth reading for its own sake. A really interesting example of this and probably the one you're on a rant about is the "feminist" decision to use the word slave to describe the murdered house girls. Previous english translations used the word servant or maid. The original greek word is none of these, but they were slaves and an ancient greek would know that in this context. Every translator is making a decision about what information is communicated when they select a word there. And a selection is required, there's no perfectly neutral choice.