The Odyssey

Written in iambic pentameter verse, Emily Wilson's Odyssey is a lean, fleet-footed translation that recaptures Homer’s “nimble gallop” and brings an ancient epic to new life. The New York Times named Wilson’s translation as one of its 100 notable books of 2018.

The Odyssey is available as a volume in the Norton Library (ISBN: 978-0-393-54340-7) and as a Norton Critical Edition (ISBN: 978-0-393-65507-0), edited by Professor Wilson. In addition to the full text translation, introduction, footnotes, and book summaries, the NCE includes: contextual materials including sources and analogues by Homer, Sappho, Pindar, and others; critical essays addressing key topics essential to the study of the Odyssey ; a glossary; and a list of suggested further readings.

Find the Odyssey at a local bookstore near you. The audiobook as read by Claire Danes is available on Audible.com.

Reviews and Observations:

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (October 28, 2018) “The Odyssey” by Corinne Pache

“ … an amazing achievement, a thrill to read, and the best English translation. Hers is the Odyssey my students will read from now on. It is a brisk, lively, often magical, version of the ancient epic that captures its enduring appeal and urgency."

The New York Times (March 15, 2018) "New Sentences: From Emily Wilson’s Translation of the ‘Odyssey’ " by Sam Anderson

"Rosy-fingered dawn, in this new version, takes on many minor variations. “When early Dawn revealed her rose-red hands.” “The early Dawn was born; her fingers bloomed.” My favorite rendering is “Soon Dawn appeared and touched the sky with roses.” It is so wonderfully delicate. It evokes, beautifully, the sky’s subtle changes at first light: how the colors phase in mildly, almost imperceptibly, the way a piece of white paper might blush if you rubbed it with a flower. And it is a perfect example of creative translation."

The New Statesman (January 21, 2017) "Emily Wilson Sensitively Considers The Odyssey’s Original Poetic Purpose and Resonance" by Josephine Balmer

"In practice, Wilson’s quiet ambition provides an immediacy and clarity, blowing away the cobwebs of pseudo-archaisms or epic pomposity, the brilliant clear sky after one of the many storms Odysseus endures."

The Daily Telegraph (January 20, 2017) "A Woman's Place Is in the Canon" by Edith Hall

"Wilson captures The Odyssey's tonal variety, from magical realism to comedy to despair."

The New York Times Book Review (December 12, 2017) "New & Noteworthy" by Susan Chira

“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. [Wilson’s] decisions to discard flowery conventions, and to limit herself to the number of lines in the original poem, produce a version both fleet and vivid.”

The Guardian (December 8, 2017) "The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson review – a new cultural landmark" by Charlotte Higgins

"Emily Wilson’s crisp and musical version is a cultural landmark. … This translation will change the way the poem is read in English."

The Financial Times (December 8, 2017) "A Woman's Homeric Feat" by Nilanjana Roy

“Wilson’s Odyssey feels like a restoration of an old, familiar building that had over the years been encrusted with too much gilt. … She scrapes away at old encrusted layers, until she exposes what lies beneath.”

The New York Times (December 5, 2017) "A Version of Homer That Dares to Match Him Line for Line" by Gregory Hays