How Could I Forget Odysseus?
The enduring appeal of Homer's Odyssey continues to find new life in modern culture. Recent attention surrounding Christopher Nolan's new film adaptation has turned the spotlight back to the source text. Translators Emily Wilson and Daniel Mendelsohn have spent years engaging with this ancient epic, providing new ways to interpret its central figure.
Emily Wilson first connected with the text through a children's play at age eight. Her translation work emphasizes the fluidity of Odysseus as a character, capable of moving between power and obscurity. This perspective offers a grounded look at a man who remains a staple of Western literature.
Daniel Mendelsohn offers a different angle based on his own travels. During a cruise retracing the path of Odysseus with his father, Mendelsohn observed how the epic functions as a study of human behavior. He frames Odysseus as an early anthropologist, highlighting the curiosity that drives the narrative forward across centuries.
Both translators suggest that the complexity of the main character is what keeps readers returning to the page. Whether viewed as a hero or a wandering stranger, the figure of Odysseus changes based on who is reading him and when. The Paris Review has now unlocked these specific translations from their archive for those interested in the textual history behind the latest cinematic release.