Emily Wilson

Wilson calls purist criticism of the adaptation muddle-headed, noting the Homeric poems were already adapted for performance in antiquity.

“I mean, I think it's pretty muddle-headed, really. Already in antiquity, the Homeric poems were adapted for performance”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 43:08

Wilson says Matt Damon would not have been her first pick for Odysseus but expects him to do well.

“I don't think he was Christopher Nolan's first pick. He wouldn't have been my first pick, but I think he'll do a great job”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 42:08

Wilson predicts some moviegoers will go back to the original poem after seeing the film and welcomes that.

“some proportion of the people who go to the movie will then turn back to the original poem, which I think is great”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 41:28

Wilson argues the poem shows homecoming is an exclusive privilege denied to the enslaved, who belong to someone else's house.

“they don't get a homecoming journey because they belong to someone else's homecoming journey”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 48:12

Wilson worries Hollywood norms will deny an older actress the role of Eurycleia and that the enslaved household may be underrepresented.

“I think it would be a shame if the norms of Hollywood meant an older woman actor isn't going to get a part in that scene”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 45:21

Wilson says it is strange to think one translation erases others and that the canon has room for many interpretations.

“I think there's something quite strange about the idea that the canon doesn't have room for many, many different interpretations, translations, engagements, reinventions”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 22:55

Wilson rejects the modern assumption that contemporary readers cannot tolerate metrical rhythm in translation.

“in the modern era, there's been this assumption that modern readers can't tolerate rhythm, which I think is false. I think modern readers can totally tolerate rhythm and, in fact, love it”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 9:26

Wilson identifies welcoming the stranger into one's house as the theme of the Odyssey that most resonates with the present.

“one of the big themes of the Odyssey that very much resonates with our time is the importance of welcoming the stranger into”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 49:34

Wilson says the first four books dwell on Telemachus's isolation, and his journey to manhood arguably remains incomplete once Odysseus returns.

“the son's journey to manhood, which is arguably a not fully complete journey because Odysseus comes back and then Odysseus is the man”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 38:28

Wilson reads Penelope's dream of the geese as expressing ambivalence and her lack of control over her fate.

“her attitude is defined by this sense of she's stuck between two different narratives. She doesn't know what's going to happen”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 35:41

Wilson states that Homeric heroes are not meant to be morally good people, contrasting ancient and modern notions of heroism.

“But none of the heroes are good people. That's not the point of being a hero,”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 31:37

Wilson says Odysseus is complicated because of his multiplicity, code-switching and capacity for self-reinvention, unlike other Homeric heroes.

“He has this capacity for self-reinvention and for having multiple identities, which is very different from anyone else in the universe, in the Homeric universe”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 28:41

Wilson contends that the trolls attacking her translation are not actually interested in the Odyssey but in modern ideas of masculinity, whiteness and Western identity.

“It's all just online performativity about modern notions about masculinity and greatness and... and actually whiteness and westernness as well. None of that is about the Odyssey”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 20:44

Wilson argues that varying the translation of repeated epithets can convey more of a character's full range because the Greek words carry multiple meanings.

“If I can change how I translate that to fit a different context, then I'm going to give the reader or the listener more of the all-around characterization of the character because the original word connotes all of those things”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 16:29

Wilson says she translated the Odyssey into traditional English meter because existing translations failed to activate the poem's rhythm and oral performance quality.

“it seemed to me that I needed to use traditional poetic form, the meter of Shakespeare and Milton, in order to activate for an English listener or English reader some elements of what did Homer sound like”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 7:53

Wilson argues the Odyssey is not merely a children's adventure story but a psychologically deep work about grief, rage and loss.

“It's not just a kid's adventure story. It also has so much to say about these really deep questions about grief and rage and loss and whether full recovery or going back in time is ever possible”

The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 5:18