Odyssey Scholar Who Slammed Movie Makes a Rare Move

Emily Wilson is probably the most well-known scholar to have translated the Odyssey, in part because she trashed the new Christopher Nolan movie in a scathing review. What made the review especially stinging is that Nolan had cited Wilson's book as a key reference. Now, however, Wilson is taking another crack at the epic that made her a literary star. The University of Pennsylvania classicist, whose 2017 English translation has sold more than a million copies, says she is now retranslating the poem "from scratch," reports the New York Times.

"It's a complete retranslation. It's not a revision of the old version," Wilson tells the AP. "I'm about halfway through." Wilson says she remains proud of her first translation but says her methods have become more sophisticated since its publication. She also pointed to perceived flaws, such as using the word "slave" even though ancient Greek had more nuanced terms for enslaved people depending on the circumstances. Rather than make tweaks, she's decided to start anew. She says the new version will be closer in style to her Iliad translation, with looser pacing and more extensive endnotes. Retranslating one's own published work is rare, translation experts note, but they expect strong demand.