The greatest literary landmark of antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our time.
When Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017—revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was “fresh, unpretentious and lean” (Madeline Miller, Washington Post )—critics lauded it as “a revelation” (Susan Chira, New York Times ) and “a cultural landmark” (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian ) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of Homer’s other great epic—the most revered war poem of all time.
The Iliad roars with the clamor of arms, the bellowing boasts of victors, the fury and grief of loss, and the anguished cries of dying men. It sings, too, of the sublime magnitude of the world—the fierce beauty of nature and the gods’ grand schemes beyond the ken of mortals. In Wilson’s hands, this thrilling, magical, and often horrifying tale now gallops at a pace befitting its legendary battle scenes, in crisp but resonant language that evokes the poem’s deep pathos and reveals palpably real, even “complicated,” characters—both human and divine.
The culmination of a decade of intense engagement with antiquity’s most surpassingly beautiful and emotionally complex poetry, Wilson’s Iliad now gives us a complete Homer for our generation.
Review
"Masterful…A bloody tale of ancient war and grief comes to vibrant life in modern-day English. Wilson has again presented a Homer that sings." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in Renaissance and early modern scholarship, a MacArthur Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. In addition to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey , she has also published translations of Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. She lives in Philadelphia. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
From the Back Cover
Praise for Emily Wilson's Odyssey
"If Wilson's version has an English model, it is the moving plainness of Matthew Arnold's 'Sohrab and Rustum.'... Though he never produced a translation himself, I think [Arnold] would have recognized his Homer--a poet 'eminently rapid... eminently plain and direct'--in Wilson's." --Gregory Hays, New York Times Book Review
"[Wilson] 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
"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 --This text refers to the paperback edition.