‘Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea,’ by Emily Wilson - Review

Emily Wilson’s latest collection of essays, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea, explores the complex ethics and techniques of translating ancient Greek and Roman literature for a modern audience. As the first woman to publish an English translation of Homer's Odyssey, Wilson argues that translating the classics is a deliberate act of interpretation rather than a neutral technical service. The book examines a wide range of topics, from the unreliable fragments of Sappho to the political misuse of Stoicism in contemporary culture. Wilson advocates for a middle path in translation that preserves the "strangeness" of the past without succumbing to nostalgia or modern whitewashing. By highlighting her own metrical and linguistic choices, she demonstrates how language can either flatten history or expose its difficult, multifaceted truths. Ultimately, these sources present translation as a vital civic tool for engaging with the unbridgeable distance of human history.



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