Emily Wilson
British-American classicist and translator; professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania; her verse Odyssey (2017) was the first English translation by a woman, followed by the Iliad (2023).
Emily Wilson did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
-
Their wordsThis is also great news for Translation, Classics, Poetry, the breaking of generic and disciplinary boundaries, and the fact that you don't have to fit a pre-existing mould to have a brilliant, successful career.
- 8 weeks earlier
-
Our reading
What is wrong with Zack Snyder’s 300 is not that it gets Herodotus wrong but that it is a bad film.
Their wordsWhat's wrong with "300" isn't that it gets Herodotus wrong (who cares? Not me). But it's a bad film.
- 2 weeks earlier
-
Their wordsBut it’s not “personal” to analyze a film or other work of art, even negatively. Criticism is more than “Hurray!” or “Hiss!”
- 2 days earlier
-
Their wordsAdaptations can do whatever the creators want with the source material, and in many cases, the more they diverge from or push back against the original, the better.
-
Their wordsWhatever one thinks of the film as a work of art, it's doing some good in the world, by generating big conversations, bringing new audiences to the cinema, and new readers to ancient literature.
-
Our reading
Big budgets are a trap for Christopher Nolan, who is better at taut, premise-driven small films.
Their wordsI think the money is a trap. It's easier to suspend disbelief if the actors are less famous. The huge budget leads him to attempt grand jam-packed epics, when he's better at taut, very premise-y small films.
-
Their wordsThe film centers Odysseus's guilt over his war crimes, but never shows us the POV of his victims, and instead glorifies the perpetrator for feeling bad about himself.
-
Their wordsAdaptations are often most successful when they make clear, courageous choices about what to leave out
- 5 days earlier
-
Their wordsI also love the way the image signals that the Odyssey is about complex interactions between people. That strikes me as a more accurate characterization than the usual cover imagery (a boat). Most of the poem doesn't take place at sea.