We can synthesize the approaches of translation by means of two mythological figures: Hermes and Orpheus. The first is a metaphor of an hermeneutical translation which transposes the meaning, in other words it’s a source-oriented translation. On the other hand, we find Orpheus, a figure that fumbles around in the darkness of form: it is a metaphor of a target-oriented translation. However, we can assume another type of translation, Apollo’s translation: it’s the mysterious way of recreation and revelation. We will explain those metaphors through four French translations of the first sonnet of Petrarch’s Canzoniere: Louis Aragon, Gérard Genot, Yves Bonnefoy and Jean-Yves Masson translations.