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Sean Carroll's Mindscape · November 25, 2024 · 75m
297 | Emily Wilson on Homer, Poetry, and Translation
Emily Wilson — first woman to translate The Odyssey into English — on Homer, translation, and what ancient poetry reveals about the human condition. Wilson's translations are radical in their clarity and fidelity to the original Greek.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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Wilson: Homer is the ultimate mentor-across-time. His poems have shaped every subsequent generation of Western literature, philosophy, and moral thought. Reading Homer carefully is a conversation with the deepest roots of Western civilization.
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Wilson: good translation requires the most generous interpretation of the original text — understanding what the author meant before finding equivalent language. Most bad translations come from imposing modern assumptions rather than listening to the ancient voice.
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