Emily Wilson 4/12

Emily Wilson’s love and enthusiasm for the Iliad (and her other works) is infectious. I haven’t read the Iliad since my high school years, and all I could remember was that I found it boring and incomprehensible. Back then, it was never presented as anything other than required reading—maybe my teachers found it boring too? Wilson, on the other hand, has sparked a new excitement in me to read and engage with all the work she’s translated.

In her talk, Wilson stated that she failed to define translation but I found her approach to it insightful and very useful. What I found particularly comforting was when she admitted that “translation is always hard,” and not just because she’s translating an ancient language. It’s hard, period.  She also stated that translation is always a form of writing. A quote from one of her slides really stuck with me: “The translator into English is writing a book in English." She didn’t elaborate much on this, but maybe she didn’t need to?

It was interesting to hear how she had “imprinted on the Greek” rather than on an English translation. Starting from the original source without the voices of her predecessors overshadowing her appeared to me to contrast with Yasmine Seale’s experience of contending with the ‘hostile dynasty’ of One Thousand and One Nights translators. Wilson seems to have a potentially freer experience, or at least, it doesn’t seem to bother her if it’s otherwise.

She also mentioned that differences in translation aren’t always mistakes, pointing out that even published translators make errors—or what might be better described as interpretations. Hearing that a ‘mistake’ could just be a different interpretation of a scene felt liberating, especially as I’m wrapping up my capstone project and sometimes worry if I’ve interpreted something ‘wrong.’

Wilson also emphasized that she doesn’t equate accessibility with ‘dumbing down’ or removing complexity. Instead, she strives to keep the richness and depth, encouraging readers to question and feel the characters’ emotions deeply—translations should stir us up, not just inform. She passionately argued that the original texts are anything but boring, and because translation is never truly complete—offering endless possibilities—she quipped, “Maybe one day I’ll get it right.” This ongoing dialogue with the text keeps her continually falling back in love with the work, discovering something new with each translation effort.

I'm not sure how else to put this, but Wilson’s talk was liberating for me. Her passion for the works she translates, the characters, and their historical contexts felt all-encompassing—she appreciates every character, regardless of whether they're boring, problematic, or anything else; she recognizes a purpose in each of them. Her talk was a breath of fresh air!

—Maria

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