A quick guide to the best Odyssey translation for you

Is one of them the ‘correct’ one?

No. Take the debate over the fifth word, where Homer uses the word “polytropos” to describe Odysseus. It has no single English equivalent, and can mean turned by travel, thought and speech, or even character. A similar pattern can be seen throughout the epic poem where scholars often challenge interpretations of verses, words, context and intention.

What are the major translations, and how do they differ?

Nolan reportedly referred to Emily Wilson’s version of The Odyssey. Wilson was the first woman to publish a complete translation of the epic poem in English. (Generated using AI)

George Chapman (1614)

The man, O Muse, inform, that many a way
Wound with his wisdom to his wished stay,
That wander’d wondrous far, When he the town
Of sacred Troy had sack’d and shiver’d down;

It is the first English Odyssey, but uses vigorous Elizabethan verse. His translation inspired Keats’s famous sonnet, “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.”The language is dense, archaic language by modern standards.

Alexander Pope (1725)

The man for wisdom’s various arts renown’d,
Long exercised in woes, O Muse! resound;
Who, when his arms had wrought the destined fall
Of sacred Troy, and razed her heaven-built wall,

The Rape of the Lock poet translates the epic using polished 18th-century heroic couplets, which remained the dominant English Odyssey for over a century. It is considered more of an elegant paraphrase than close translation.

E V Rieu (1946)

Tell me, Muse, the story of that resourceful man who was driven to wander far and wide after he had sacked the holy citadel of Troy. He saw the cities of many people and he learnt their ways.

In a departure from tradition, Rieu translates the epic in prose rather than verse making it accessible to a larger number of readers. This translation has the distinction of being the first book to be launched under the now famous Penguin Classics imprint. The text, while easy to read still retains some old-fashioned sentence structure.

Robert Fitzgerald

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy.

It is an elegant translation, which was quite popular, only Fitzgerald occasionally slips into mid-century American idiom (“scot-free”), which can jolt readers out of the ancient setting.

Richmond Lattimore (1967)

Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven
far journeys, after he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel.
Many were they whose cities he saw, whose minds he learned of,
many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the wide sea,

Lattimore is known to be one of the most literal translators who closely tracked Homer’s Greek word order. However, its fidelity comes at the cost of flow and several critics describe it as more of a careful crib than a poem.

Robert Fagles (1996)

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.

He is known for his accessible, energetic verses that are built to be read aloud. This is one of the bestselling translations of The Odyssey. He uses imagery and phrasing that are not in the Homeric original to make the text more exciting.

Emily Wilson (2017)

Tell me about a complicated man.
Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost
when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy

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This is a modern translation of the Homeric epic, the first to be translated by a woman. She has criticised her for her interpretive translation, especially when it comes to women in the epic, and for using modern language, which some see as over simplification. However, it remains one of the most popular texts so much so that Nolan referred to it too. It is often recommended as an entry text for those studying the classic for the first time.

Daniel Mendelsohn (2025)

Tell me the tale of a man, Muse, who had so many roundabout ways.
To wander, driven off course, after sacking Troy’s hallowed keep.

His translation is a musical, six-beat line closer to Homer’s original meter, with the fullest scholarly notes of any current edition. While Mendelsohn preserves Homer’s original line breaks, some readers complain of awkward phrasing and jarring enjambment.

Which one should I start with?

If you want the most readable modern entry point, Wilson’s is usually recommended. If you want something closer to how the Greek scans, Lattimore. If you want a classic, dramatic reading experience, go with Fagles. There is no wrong choice, only a different Odysseus depending on which one you pick.

Why is this suddenly a topic of debate again?

Wilson’s translation, and the choices behind it, have resurfaced in conversation around the new film that use similarly plain, modern language for their dialogue. Thus, reviving a years-old argument about whether accessible, contemporary English does justice to a 3,000-year-old epic.

Why are there so many translations of one poem?

The Odyssey was composed in the 7th or 8th century, the version of Greek spoken has been lost to the ages. It is, therefore, difficult to faithfully render into English verse, leading to hundreds of attempts over the centuries with differences in meaning and rhythm.