The Odyssey

A lean, fleet-footed translation that recaptures Homer's "nimble gallop" and brings an ancient epic to new life.

The first great adventure story in the Western canon, the Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage, family, and identity; and about travelers, hospitality, and the changing meanings of home in a strange world.

This vivid new poetic translation—the first ever by a woman—matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer's sprightly pace. Eschewing showy poeticisms and high-flown rhetoric, Emily Wilson employs elemental, resonant language and a five-beat line to produce a translation with an enchanting "rhythm and rumble" that avoids proclaiming its own grandeur or importance.

An engrossing tale told in a compelling new voice that allows contemporary readers to luxuriate in Homer's magical descriptions and similes and to thrill at the tension and...