Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Iliad, translated by Emily Wilson

Posted April 26, 2023 by Stephanie in can't-wait wednesday / 7 Comments

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read.
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The Iliad, translated by Emily Wilson
Expected publication: September 26, 2023 by W. W. Norton & Company

The greatest literary landmark of classical antiquity masterfully rendered by the most celebrated translator of our time.

When Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017―revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was “fresh, unpretentious, and lean” (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)―critics lauded it as “a revelation” (Susan Chira, New York Times) and “a cultural landmark” (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an equally revelatory translation of the first great Homeric epic: the Iliad.

In Wilson’s hands, this exciting and often horrifying work now gallops at a pace befitting its best battle scenes, roaring with the clamor of arms, the bellowing boasts of victors, and the anguished cries of dying men. Wilson’s unadorned but resonant language plumbs the poem’s profound pathos and reveals its characters as palpably real, even “complicated,” human beings. Capping a decade of intense engagement with Homer’s poetry, Wilson’s Iliad now gives us a complete Homer for our generation.

You guyssss!
I’m so beyond happy that we finally have a cover (SO GORGEOUS) and release date. Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey is one of my favorites and I’m so happy that her translation of The Iliad is coming up. Eeeeeeek I can’t wait!

Are you also looking forward to this book?
Leave links to your Can’t-Wait Wednesday post so I can stop by!

sjhigbee

Oh wow! I recall what a stir her translation of The Odyssey caused. I want to read both of them, but I’m going to wait until Life is being a tad kinder to me, because I know they will be gruelling and sad… But thank you for sharing – it’s a wonderful achievement:)).