Madeline Miller
American novelist and classics teacher, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller (American novelist and classics teacher, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Penelope, Literary translation, The Odyssey (2026 film).
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Penelope
Miller argues the text clearly presents Penelope as Odysseus's equal, citing her final test of the immovable bed.
“So I think it's in the text that she is absolutely meant to be brilliant. But like him, I think she's a complicated figure”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 32:57
Miller says Penelope's shroud trick reveals both her cleverness and the gender roles of the period, since the suitors have no idea how long weaving takes.
“she knows that they have no idea how long it takes to weave a shroud. And so it's like a great trick that like really reveals sort of the gender roles of the time as well”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 6:21
Literary translation
Miller compares objections to new versions of the Odyssey to wanting only one production of King Lear to exist.
“it's like, you know, wanting there to be only one production of King Lear ever. And that's it. No other productions, no other ideas”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 23:06
Miller says successful retellings are judged not by closeness to the text but by the fullness of the writer's vision.
“When you are adapting, there really are no rules. You can write very close to the text and not be successful and very far from the text and be completely successful”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 17:42
The Odyssey (2026 film)
Miller says she expects to want more of the women's stories in any Odyssey adaptation, as they usually function only to help or obstruct.
“so many of the women are just kept as these sort of mysterious figures who come in and help or obstruct”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 48:46
Telemachus
Miller says Telemachus is hard to connect with because the poem catches him at a moment of youth, anxiety and immaturity.
“the Telemachus we see in that moment in the Odyssey may not be the Telemachus he is his whole life. It's who he is at this moment of anxiety and immaturity, honestly”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 37:11
Odysseus
Miller argues that Odysseus displays what modern readers would recognize as PTSD, though the ancients had no word for it.
“The ancients didn't have a word for PTSD, but I feel that he clearly chose it. And there are other ancient texts where we can see it as well”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 29:22
Circe (novel)
Miller says the Odyssey gives only Odysseus's self-serving account of Circe, which motivated her to tell the story from Circe's perspective.
“all we get is Odysseus' version. It's literally him telling the story to some other people to make himself look good”
The Daily: What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything. (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 13:14
Appearances
What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything.The Daily · Jul 12, 2026 · 51 min
Natalie Kitroeff talks with translator Emily Wilson and novelist Madeline Miller about the Odyssey ahead of Christopher Nolan's film adaptation.
Discussed in
687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1)The Rest Is History · Jul 12, 2026 · 1 h 12 min
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook retell the first half of Homer's Odyssey, from Troy's fall to Calypso's island, and probe its roots in Greek colonisation.
Often appears with
- Natalie Kitroeff · 1 shared episode
- Emily Wilson · 1 shared episode