Emily Wilson to retranslate ’The Odyssey’ book
Translator Emily Wilson is undertaking a complete retranslation of Homer’s 'The Odyssey' less than a decade after her acclaimed 2017 version. She cites a desire to refine her methodology and address specific linguistic nuances regarding enslaved people in ancient Greece.
Why it matters
It is highly unusual for a prominent translator to re-translate their own successful work so quickly, highlighting evolving standards in literary translation and historical interpretation.
If you're among the many readers who learned to love “The Odyssey” through Emily Wilson's 2017 translation, you might be surprised that she's going to translate it again.
“It's a complete retranslation. It's not a revision of the old version,” Ms. Wilson told The Associated Press during a recent Zoom interview from her home in Philadelphia, where she is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. “I'm about halfway through.”
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