The Odyssey - Softcover

Homer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393356256 ISBN 13: 9780393356250

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2018

Synopsis

A New York Times Notable Book of 2018

"Wilson’s language is fresh, unpretentious and lean...It is rare to find a translation that is at once so effortlessly easy to read and so rigorously considered." ―Madeline Miller, author of Circe

Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.

This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, none more so than the “complicated” hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this version as a more fully rounded human being than ever before.

Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, Emily Wilson’s Odyssey sings with a voice that echoes Homer’s music; matching the number of lines in the Greek original, the poem sails along at Homer’s swift, smooth pace.

A fascinating, informative introduction explores the Bronze Age milieu that produced the epic, the poem’s major themes, the controversies about its origins, and the unparalleled scope of its impact and influence. Maps drawn especially for this volume, a pronunciation glossary, and extensive notes and summaries of each book make this is an Odyssey that will be treasured by a new generation of readers.

3 maps

About this title

About the Author

Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Philadelphia.

Review

“A masterpiece of translation.”
- Rowan Williams, University of Cambridge

“A revelation. Never have I been so aware at once of the beauty of the poetry, the physicality of Homer’s world, and the moral ambiguity of those who inhabit it.”
- Susan Chira, New York Times Book Review

“Emily Wilson’s crisp and musical version is a cultural landmark.... This translation will change the way the poem is read in English.”
- Charlotte Higgins, Guardian

“In the history of Odyssey translations, few have exerted such a cultural influence that they become ‘classics’ in their own right.... I predict that Emily Wilson will win a place in this roll-call of the most significant translations of the poem in history. She certainly deserves the honour.”
- Edith Hall, Daily Telegraph

“Emily Wilson has given us a staggeringly superior translation―true, poetic, lively and readable, and always closely engaged with the original Greek―that brings to life the fascinating variety of voices in Homer’s great epic.”
- Richard F. Thomas, Harvard University

“When I first read these lines..., I was floored. I’d never read an Odyssey that sounded like this. It had such directness, the lines feeling not as if they were being fed into iambic pentameter because of some strategic decision but because the meter was a natural mode for its speaker.”
- Wyatt Mason, New York Times Magazine

“In her powerful new translation, Emily Wilson... has chosen immediacy and naturalism over majestic formality. She preserves the musicality of Homer’s poetry, opting for an iambic pentameter whose approachable storytelling tone invites us in, only to startle us with eruptions of beauty.... Wilson’s transformation of such a familiar and foundational work is... astonishing.”
- Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Atlantic

“Wilson’s translation is a superb achievement and a striking departure from the tradition of Homeric translation into English.... There is no elaborate or antiquated diction, just a crispness and clear-headedness that will seem quite alien to anyone familiar with earlier versions.... Wilson has produced a wonderfully distinctive―and modern―version of the poem.”
- Henry Power, Evening Standard

“Irresistibly readable, Wilson’s Odyssey turns Homeric epic into a poetic feast.”
- Froma Zeitlin, Princeton University

“This translation is a marvel! Bold and timely and ever so exciting.... As majestic as literature gets.”
- Max Porter, author of Grief Is the Thing With Feathers

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0393356256
• ISBN 13: 9780393356250
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 592