The presented article examines the temporal distance in artistic translation. By bringing ancient texts and works created in later eras to the modern reader, the translator acts, on the one hand, as a researcher and philologist, and on the other, as a creative writer reviving the image and characteristic flavor of the past. If the translation it presents to the modern reader does not convey the basic features of the environment described in the original and the cultural and historical conditions in which the work itself was created, then the artistic and aesthetic value of the work is reduced to nothing. In translation, the concept of time implies a calendar (historical) difference between the communicative conditions created by the original and those in which the translation takes place. J. Holmes believes that this problem can be solved in two main ways: historicization and modernization. The principle of historicization is considered in relation to the original, to the literary traditions to which it belongs. In this case, it is necessary to preserve vocabulary, style, rhythm and structure as much as possible. The modernization principle adapts the vocabulary and description of events in general to the modern era of the recipient of the transfer. However, the principle of modernization may be different: style, structure and vocabulary, as a rule, remain true to the original, while the lexical and thematic aspects of the text are clearly being modernized. One of the factors determining literary translation from the point of view of literary and artistic development is its repetition. This can be explained by several factors. The first is that the translation language becomes obsolete faster than the original language. The reason for the obsolescence of the language and the translation style is objectively explained by the change and development of expressive norms of the language. On the other hand, literary translation and the art of translation in general are constantly evolving, and the dynamics are putting forward new demands. In other words, a translation option that keeps up with the times is always in demand.