Entertainment
Emily Wilson announces complete retranslation of Homer's Odyssey
A decade after her bestselling, highly discussed translation, the University of Pennsylvania professor is starting the epic poem fresh.
The short version
- Emily Wilson, a classical studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has announced she is about halfway through a complete, non-revised retranslation of Homer's "The Odyssey."
- Wilson's acclaimed 2017 translation, the first major English-language translation of the epic by a woman, has sold over one million copies.
- The new translation is expected to be longer and will feature more precise vocabulary, particularly regarding ancient Greek terms for enslaved people.
Key facts
- Emily Wilson is writing a complete retranslation of Homer's "The Odyssey," rather than a revision of her 2017 translation, and is currently about halfway finished.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- Wilson's 2017 translation of "The Odyssey" has sold more than one million copies.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- According to Kate Deimling of the American Translators Association, starting over on a full-length text within a decade of a highly successful translation is historically rare.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- The upcoming translation will be longer, aiming to better represent the social structures of the poem and correct what Wilson described as an overuse of the word "slave" where ancient Greek used more specific terminology.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- The announcement of the project coincides with the release of Wilson's new essay collection, "Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea."[ABC News · Associated Press]
What remains uncertain
- Wilson indicated that her decision to publish a new translation so soon after the first is controversial and acknowledged it could create challenges for educators choosing which version to teach.[ABC News · Associated Press]