This contribution attempts to address the problem of metaphor on three different levels. In the first part a short sketch of the development of our understanding of metaphors is presented. It is shown that this understanding has expanded by the successive inclusion of a number of components, rendering it increasingly more complex. The second part proceeds from the translation of Spanish and French texts into German, and documents the various possibilities for translating metaphors. The particular solutions supplied by the translators are compared with one another and evaluated. This procedure forms the basis for the third part, which investigates the possible consequences of all this for the science of translation: what status do metaphors have in this science, and in what way could they possibly be systematically integrated into research in the field?