Translation is an art form worthy of academic criticism, Donald S. Carne-Ross argued in literary essays, but as a reader he preferred a writer's own words, even if they were written in ancient Greek. A professor emeritus at Boston University, where he taught in the classical studies department for about three decades, Mr. Carne-Ross died Jan. 9 in the Newton and Wellesley Alzheimer Center in Wellesley of complications from Alzheimer's disease.