With the help of Danes's measured narration, Wilson's poetic text vibrates with emotion and offers readers a brand new way to experience an old favorite.ĭon't believe me? You will once you listen to this audio excerpt, which features Danes reading the opening lines of Wilson's The Odyssey.Wilson began her acting career in 2005 in the TV series NCIS ('SWAK'). Read by acclaimed actress and Homeland star Claire Danes, this exciting rendition of the epic poem brings to life all of the action, adventure, magic, and mayhem that make The Odyssey such a beloved work of literature. 20, Audible released the first audiobook performance of Wilson's translation of The Odyssey. When it comes to The Odyssey, 'There's more than one way to be a girl,' Wilson told Bustle. The poem's female characters, including the major ones like Athena and the minor ones like Odysseus's sister, are given more space and depth in this new translation than any other. Of course, the story's hero isn't the only one to get a makeover in Wilson's translation. Rather than downplay, sugarcoat, or ignore the problematic components of his life - his philandering, his ownership of slaves, his thirst for violence, the inequality in his marriage - Wilson's The Odyssey offers each one up to the readers to examine, reflect on, or judge as they see fit. His questionable actions, namely the murder of his wife's suitors and his ordered execution of the female slaves, are presented with warts and all. In Wilson's interpretation of Homer's classic, the hero is not entirely heroic. It has also been heralded for its complicated portrayal of Odysseus. Her translation has been praised for its clarity, its creativity, its beauty, and perhaps most notably, its accessibility. Written in iambic pentameter verse and spanning the same number of lines as the Greek original, Wilson's The Odyssey honors the work's classic poeticism while managing to feel refreshingly modern. But out of the 60-something English translations to date, only one of them has been written by a woman. First translated into English around 1615, The Odyssey has been told and retold dozens of times over the centuries.

An epic poem about war, violence, power, and family, it follows warrior-king Odysseus on his 20-year journey home after the Trojan War. Written sometime in the 8th century BC, The Odyssey is a cornerstone of literature's Western canon. Out now for the first time from Audible, it's the perfect long book to listen to on your drive home this holiday, and Bustle has an excerpt from it below. Her interpretation Homer's classic breathes new life into the three-millennium-old poem, and so does the new audiobook performance of it by actress Claire Danes. In 2017, Emily Wilson made history when she became the first woman to translate The Odyssey into English.

Emily wilson actress