Emily Wilson
Crossing the Wine Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature by Emily Wilson consists of a series of essays exploring the works of various classical Greek and Roman authors, including Aeschylus, Sappho, Demosthenes, Catallus, and Aristophanes. Wilson takes it a step further by showing how several contemporary works that are spin-offs from the classics have transformed the material to address their time and place. Some familiarity with the classics that come under the scrutiny of her discerning eye maybe helpful but not essential.
Emily Wilson calls it as she sees it. She is unabashed in her critiques of previous translations, sharing her views openly by labeling them boring, long-winded, sentimental, myopic, etc. But she is also quick to praise a translation which she considers commendable, highlighting a turn of phrase or a choice of words she finds appealing.
A recurring thread in the collection articulates the challenges of translation and the multiple possibilities from which a choice must be made. Wilson interrogates the goal of translation: Should it simply capture the spirit of the original and select words and rhyming patterns to increase accessibility to a reader unfamiliar with the original? Or should it capture the original in all its strangeness in diction and rhyme and cultural specificity? Wilson takes a middle ground by arguing a translation must be reader-friendly while capturing the complexity and cultural inflections of the original. She argues this applies not only to word choice but also to the form and rhyming pattern of the original, so that, for example, an original in verse should not be rendered as prose. She determines that each translation is, in effect, an interpretation.
The breadth, depth, and scope of Wilson’s knowledge of the classics is impressive. Her ability to analyze modern renditions is equally impressive. Her tone is conversational; her voice is engaging. She can be very funny when poking fun at missteps in translation. But where she really shines is in her chapter on translating the Odyssey. She compares her predecessors’ different translations of the same passage in Homer before offering her translation. She shows how modern sensibilities can distort the meaning of the original. She describes her struggle to find just the right word that is as faithful to the original as she can make it. And she is honest enough to admit she is not completely satisfied with her choice.
Wilson is lively, engaging, insightful. Her thoughts on the challenges of translation are illuminating. Above all, what emerges from this wonderful collection is Emily Wilson’s bubbling enthusiasm for the classics—an enthusiasm that is thoroughly and justifiably infectious.