The Odyssey

After reading several translations of The Odyssey (Butcher, Murray, Rieu, Fagles, Lattimore etc…) over the years, I was curious to experience a more contemporary treatment, hence picking up this one.

Wilson’s translation is clear and easy to comprehend. I found it a much faster read than previous translations, although admittedly I was poring over those ones for a dissertation. (I forget which one(s) came in rhyming couplets, but ohboy!)  If you’ve read my other reviews, you’ll know I tend to prefer prose that isn’t too ornate, but I wouldn’t have minded a touch more richness here. While I generally liked the straightforward language, sometimes the wily Odysseus seemed to express himself more honestly and self-critically than I’d expect. Additionally, I didn’t often feel inclined to linger over particular passages.

As a bonus, I did notice descriptive details that I hadn’t previously paid much attention to (such as the storeroom Penelope retrieves the bow from, and the bow’s somewhat ominous history).

Overall, a very accessible translation that may well appeal if you’ve struggled with earlier florid offerings.

An approachable version of The Odyssey in a plain and modern English. Wilson matches Homer line-for-line, but compresses each line to a 5-beat iambic pentameter. Her language is chiseled, sometimes to a fault. But it adds up to a surprisingly quick, enjoyable, and morally engaging read.

Homer's most vivid images really shine in this rendering: "He saw them fallen, all of them, so many; / lying in blood and dust, like fish hauled up / out of the dark-gray sea in fine-mesh nets; / tipped out upon the curving beach's sand, / they gasp for water from the salty sea. / The sun shines down and takes their life away. / So lay the suitors, heaped across each other."

The text avoids justifying or masking immoral or questionable acts and practices. The word "slave" is used frequently, rather than euphemisms. Sometimes the translation strikes a judgmental note, like when the opening stanza says of Odysseus and his men: "He failed to keep them safe." Overall, I loved being invited to see these characters as flawed people in a flawed world, not as monuments.

1) "Thus Telemachus. And Pallas Athena Touched the suitors' minds with hysteria. They couldn't stop laughing, and as they laughed It seemed to them that their jaws were not theirs, And the meat that they ate was dabbled with blood. Tears filled their eyes, and their hearts raced. Then the seer Theoclymenus spoke among them: 'Wretches, what wicked thing is this that you suffer? You are shrouded in night from top to toe, Lamentation flares, your cheeks melt with tears, And the walls of the house are spattered with blood. The porch and the court are crowded with ghosts Streaming down to the undergloom. The sun is gone From heaven, and an evil mist spreads over the land.'"

2) "Odysseus picked up The arrow from the table and laid it upon The bridge of the bow, and, still in his chair, Drew the bowstring and the notched arrow back. He took aim and let fly, and the bronze-tipped arrow Passed clean through the holes of all twelve axeheads From first to last. And he said to Telemachus: 'Well, Telemachus, the guest in your hall Has not disgraced you. I did not miss my target, Nor did I take all day in stringing the bow. I still have my strength, and I'm not as the suitors Make me out to be in their taunts and jeers. But now it is time to cook these men's supper, While it is still light outside, and after that, We'll need some entertainment-music and song- The finishing touches for a perfect banquet.'

He spoke, and lowered his eyebrows. Telemachus, The true son of godlike Odysseus, slung on His sharp sword, seized his spear, and gleaming in bronze Took his place by his father's side."