Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature

by Emily Wilson

Drawing on twenty years of scholarship and translation experience, Emily Wilson—renowned translator of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad—explores the difficult choices that translators must make, the pleasures of finding new solutions to old problems, and the inevitable frustrations of never fully capturing what is in the original work. Across chapters that range from the politics of Helen of Troy to the obscenities of Aristophanes, from Roman imitation of Greek models to contemporary debates over “foreignizing” and “domesticizing” translation styles, Wilson examines how modern norms of gender, sexuality, violence, humor, and power complicate our readings of ancient works, and how translation always risks denaturing what is unique and strange about the ancient world. Brilliant, erudite, and yet accessible to readers with no classics background, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is at once an introduction to the wonders of Greek and Roman literature, a manifesto for the value of translation in a rapidly changing world, and an invitation to encounter ancient cultures anew.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Mythology, Essays, Classics, Literary Criticism, Greek Mythology

288 pages, Paperback

Expected publication September 1, 2026

About the author

Emily R. Wilson (b. 1971) is a Professor in the Department of Classical Studies and Chair of the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory. She has a BA from Oxford in Classics, an M. Phil., also from Oxford, in English Literature (1500-1660), and a Ph.D. from Yale in Classics and Comparative Literature. Her first book was Mocked with Death: Tragic overliving from Sophocles to Milton (Johns Hopkins, 2004). Her second book was The Death of Socrates: Hero, Villain, Chatterbox, Saint (Harvard UP 2007). Her third was "Seneca: A Life" (also published in the US as "The Greatest Empire": Penguin/ OUP USA, 2015). She has published verse translations of Seneca's tragedies (Oxford World's Classics), Euripides ("The Greek Plays", Modern Library Random House), and The Odyssey (Norton, fall 2017). Other publications include various chapters and articles on the reception of classical literature in English literature, and reviews in the TLS and LRB. She is the classics editor for the revised Norton Anthology of World Literature, and Western Literature.

Reviews

[Grace Btrs (semi ia - mostly overwhelmed)]

Not me waiting for ages to get a physical copy of an Emily Wilson, but managing to get my hands on an ARC before that.🤷🏻‍♀️

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, and I really, really wanted to like this more than I did. With the provision that this is no commentary on Wilson’s translation work, this specific piece of work strayed off the point far too often to be cohesive and thoughtful. There were sections where the author would stray off to make what was an attempt at witty political or socio-economic commentary that just came out awkward and aggressive - even if I did agree with the point being made.

The good, however, was that when this was good, it was really good. Wilson’s strengths shined through when discussing topics she was comfortable with and deeply knowledgeable of - like translations of Homer and the Iliad, and Greek history. Those were the parts I found not only the most interesting but the most well constructed.

[Ella-Mae Campling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody brilliant. No notes, aside from the fact that my copy is LITTERED IN THEM. A rare find. A book that reminds me the absolute passion and joy you can find hidden inside something you already love. Urgh so many thoughts and excavations I need to drum up into an official review but woah.
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Yes, THAT Emily Wilson, first woman to translate the Odyssey into English, and only the second in terms of the Iliad, also known as: a total bad***
Genuinely one of the most fascinating, engrossing non fiction books I’ve had the pleasure of reading in recent years. Investigating the trials and tribulations that accompanies classical translation as well as the art of translation and how it is an eternal battle of fighting own societal contexts and beliefs in what is being said. From studies on particular fragments (with the ancient Greek to accompany), Wilson dissects translators choices, as well as highlights how many of the current editions of the foundational texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey are written not by those who prioritise authenticity in translation, but instead prioritize the story and it’s function as a piece of fiction, and by doing so, often create new beliefs and assumptions into the general public’s understanding of these classics. One example -that I, as someone who has read 5+ translations, had no idea about- was that the original Greek translation does not label Polyphemus as a Cyclops, this othering of crafting Odysseus’ villain into a ‘monstrous’ form through the translations that have been passed down and reiterated creates fascinating debates on a central characteristic Odysseus has of being known in canon, to lie.
I genuinely could go on for hours about how glad I am to have read this incredibly erudite, passionate read that is filled with useful sources, examples and even a simple guide placed at the end on Wilson’s own personal rules of investigating released translations and a recommended reading list that filled me with joy.
Frankly, the purpose of this book and what it investigates is best summed by this quote by Wilson:
‘The idioms, connotations, syntax and assumptions of language are always entertwined with a specific set of social contexts, none of which can be replicated in translation.’

[Tumblyhome (Caroline) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book in June.. I am not sure why it says it isn’t published yet… it is published… I bought it. Maybe it isn’t published in the US yet?

First let me say that I am a huge fan of Emily Wilson’s translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I have read these by a few different translators and always come back to Wilson’s because of the beautiful way she makes the stories sound, her excellent notes about translation choices and because it was her The Odyssey that got me reading these classic texts, for which I will be eternally grateful.

So I bought this book with some excitement about reading it. I really enjoyed the first chapter about Sappho, but then I lost my initial enthusiasm. I did enjoy ‘sparrows and scrubbers’ and sections of other essays tho. The parts about translation were really interesting and helpful.

My ebbing enthusiasm is partly my fault because I thought the book was just about the huge subject of translation.. but it sort of lost that theme in places. It probably never set out to be only about that, except the notes on the front flap are a little deceiving in that case.

My main reason for two stars is that I felt she was far too scathing about other writers and readers too in some cases. For example, as a none academic reader, I much enjoyed Bettany Hughes book about Helen of Troy. Wilson claims Hughes has a dollop of ‘naïveté’ by suggesting a …

‘biography of a mythical character from 3,000 years ago could possibly be reconstructed’.

This is not an impression I took away from Hughes book. In fact I thought Hughes constantly spoke of how Helen as a historical figure was in fact a pure concept. Rather, Hughes was saying that that view of Helen can tell us much indirectly about how the people viewed women and still do. Hughes book isn’t deeply scholarly, it was written for a general public who are interested, as such it felt unfair of Wilson to disparage it. Books like that give people like me a grounding that they can then expand on and start learning more. I disliked that Hughes is described as ‘television presenter Bettany Hughes’ … it felt demeaning, I felt it was meant to be.

So I came to the essay entitled Ancient Worlds. Again there is a tone I didn’t enjoy. Ok Edith Hamilton might not be a perfect example of how to accurately tell ancient stories, but the tone regarding e.g. Mary Beard, Stephen Fry etc was a little patronising.
The comment that Fagles, Rieu, Fitzgerald, Fry, Holland having ‘no training in the field’.. was harsh…and she says the success of Holland, like Fry being ‘especially in the UK’… ummmm i am in the UK….I was unsure how to take that!

Wilson goes on to say

‘Armchair classicists often lay claim to a radically simplified and distorted version of the ancient world shaped by modern ideological projections and constructions of ‘tradition’ that map suspiciously well onto contemporary right wing values and contemporary Catholic or evangelical beliefs’

If simplification is the problem in all this then that needed examples and expanding. I definitely believe that statement is true, but Wilson didn’t give a single example despite her going on to say that ‘public perceptions are very often….simplified thanks in no small part to Hamilton as well as Fry, Haynes and others. So a more nuanced essay might have stepped away from sweeping statements with no examples and clarified precisely what she meant.. and I would argue that Fry, Haynes and others have done marvellous work in prompting people to discover more about classics..

I really HATED the term armchair classicist. How demeaning of people like me who probably are just that. I have a background as a scientist, not a classicist but have come to ancient texts late… I initially read simplified books, some of the translations Wilson speaks of by Holland etc. I grew more and more interested and have delved deeper and deeper with works by Dodds etc. It was those books by Fry etc that initially peaked my curiosity. Like many who came to classics like me, we are not so stupid that we don’t recognise the simplified, domesticated and outdated nature of some books but we have to start somewhere and those very popular writers have done incredible jobs in reeling in those, like me, who discover a love of classics enough to want to learn ancient languages and read much more deeply… (despite scholarly books on the subject being soooooo flippin’ expensive). Armchair classicists often have more passion than many a classics student… we can find the way to more in-depth books. I study classics from home… step from original texts to more academic analysis with no guidance other than curiosity and suggestions within introductions of books like Wilson’s. I just wish some of those academic books were a little cheaper, even second hand they can be very expensive.



Wilson ends the chapter by saying


‘we must show members of the intelligent reading public the respect they deserve, by offering nuanced, clear, interesting analysis of antiquity in all its glorious alien complexity’.

I hope she doesn’t mean that there is a subset of ‘intelligent ’ readers… I will assume that is not what is meant.. i firmly believe that readers are readers… whatever they get fulfilment from reading..BUT….. often in order to come to some of the more nuanced and scholarly texts, we, the reading public, need an introduction and something to make us realise that classical studies are INCREDIBLE. For me that came via Fry, Wilson’s Odyssey and Tom Hollands Herodotus… and I don’t care that Holland has ‘no training in the field…’ I have gone on to read other translations and am working my way through anything I can get my hands on, classic texts, reviews, analyses and anything and everything I can afford…but it came from simple and much enjoyed beginnings..but then again I am in the UK 🙄 Really that sentence, focusing on ‘we must show’ to the ‘public’ really does smack of superiority..

And if Mary Beard is commented on by Wilson in a slightly sneering way for attaining a ‘soap box’ on all things from ‘Brexit to global history of culture and the Internet’ I wondered how it was ok then for her, Wilson, to do the same… but I guess it is her book and therefore her soapbox.

BUT

I agree that Alice Oswalds Memorial was incredible…. But as Wilson points out, she does have ‘a BA in classics from Oxford’ for goodness sake. And if I have misunderstood the nature of Wilson’s comments in this book I am happy to be challenged on what I have said… it is just that I increasingly got the feeling of almost elitism and belittling

[Lucy Sweeney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crossing The Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature by Emily Wilson
☀️☀️☀️⛅

In this series of essays, scholar and translator Emily Wilson examines several aspects of Greek and Roman mythology through the lens of translation.

Wilson, recognised as the first woman to complete full published translations of The Odyssey and The Iliad, serves up interesting and thought-provoking perspectives on everything from the unique historical importance of the Greek to Roman literary movement, deep dives into specific figures like Sappho and Helen of Troy, as well as her takes on particular translations covering comedy, tragedy and verse from the history books.

Her references are far-reaching (including Cardi B, Boris Johnson, and Spike Lee) and enable a less than obsessed reader to connect dots that might otherwise be difficult to comprehend. Though this helps, some of the essays felt a bit long and dry for me, though perhaps that's because I occasionally struggled to perceive the 'point' of some essays until the end. Many were fascinating and insightful though, and none more so than the final piece looking at translations of Homer over the years and how they vary. It is remarkable to be shown the bias that inherently exists in translation, and how the smallest of changes can impact the whole piece.

For causal fans of Greek or Roman mythology this might skew too academic in nature, but Wilson's knowledge base and passion for the history cannot be ignored.


"Language is never a neutral tool by which we represent the world: every word and phrase carries with it a tangle of cultural assumptions and connotations, many of which are not paralleled by other languages - especially languages from many centuries ago. Form is not entirely distinct from meaning, and aesthetics are always entangled with values."

"There are many sizes of infinity. There are an infinite number of ways to get a translation wrong. There are fewer ways to get it right - but the possibilities are still infinite."

[Simon Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat mean guess as to why this book exists is because Wilson wrote that Odysseus was a “complicated” man, causing an ever-recurring ouroboros braindead discourse online. Wilson is right that the majority of opinions tend to be inexpert ones, which I guess is also in line with her other essays where she gets snippy about non-experts opining on languages/history or even writing books on them. There’s even a side eye towards experts in narrow areas speaking more widely – I guess Mary Beard didn’t take being personally named as she is also in the acknowledgements.

Another indicator that this wasn’t particularly deeply planned is the title. “wine-dark” is a reference to how the ancient Greeks perceived and wrote about colour – so the title is a nice reference to the complications of translation – if you know about it beforehand. I cannot find any reference to this point in any of the essays – prior knowledge is assumed, which calls into question the target audience for these essays, i.e. is Wilson even bothering to appeal to the neophytes?

I do think this book does make a lot (and I do mean a lot) of good points about translation and provides a firm justification for Wilson’s approach to translation beyond imaginary “wokeness”. Her analysis of earlier translators is a particularly appealing part of the book. Other essays on Stoicism, the portrayal of women, and the development of comedy over time are also insightful.

It’s one of those books where I did feel like a bit of whinge about how it’s set up to deal with a particular criticism, but actually do like and learn from, in terms of never having certainty that the words one reads are the words one meant (or even if the original meaning could every be determined). You will find yourself taking longer than the page count suggests.

[Sarah Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re ready to chart waters both fiercely ancient and breathtakingly new, then this is absolutely the book. Emily Wilson for me is one of the greats, and this is a fascinating look at the enduring magic of literature across the Ancient landscape. From the lasting, ever changing legacy of Helen of Troy and epic poetry to translation as conquest for the Romans. After all the Romans did 'borrow' from their Greek counterparts ⛵️🏺

There is no single, definitive shore to be reached but each new translation of classics across time is a unique voyage. Wilson draws unexpected, illuminating lines that connect antiquity directly to the modern cultural landscape. It is so so interesting 🏛️

There are so many thoughts and feelings to excavate from this brilliant work. Antiquity is still a living conversation. A translator must choose which facets of an ancient text to bring into the light. Translation has always been a messy, creative and highly political act of transformation ✨

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be fascinating if not a little dry. This a collection of essay Wilson has written regarding the process and experience and history of translating classic works. It does require a level of background knowledge to truly grasp. It's not an introductory text. As said above it is a little dry so I recommend it for people who are deeply interested in the topic but it's definitely not a general read.

[Lottie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

I have to say I thought I would enjoy this more, but I did find it really interesting reading about the process of translation, as it’s something I’ve always had respect for and appreciated its importance. Overall, it was good to be able to hear from Wilson directly about how she felt about things - given that she’s a translator, we don’t get that in any other way

[Bryony · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read about the ancient Roman and Greek figures and their influence on literature.

[Beth Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, witty, incisive, and informative.