Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea (Accessible EPUBAccessible EPUB)

Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea (Ebook)

Journeys through Ancient Literature

Emily Wilson

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Emily Wilson reflects on the power of language to evolve our understanding of the past

'Enthralling and profoundly relevant' Salman Rushdie

'Joyful, illuminating and engaging ' Madeline Miller

'A masterclass in translation' Blake Morrison, Guardian

How do we give old words new voices? What must a translator lose - and what might she gain - when she moves between languages, bringing ancient stories to modern life?

Emily Wilson has spent a lifetime wrestling with these questions: here, she invites us to consider the meaning and messages of translators from antiquity to today - and gives a wholly fresh insight into her own work on Homer.

From shifting depictions of Helen of Troy to Cardi B and Athenian comedy, Han Kang's novels and Rome's love of Greek culture, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is a playful and fascinating voyage into the promise, possibility and constant renewal of classical literature.

Publication date: June 4, 2026

£10.00

ISBN: 9781805225867

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0FPYPGR23

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, History & Classics

Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea (Trade Paperback)

Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea (Paperback)

Journeys through Ancient Literature

Emily Wilson

Buy from

Bookshop.org Waterstones Foyles Blackwell's Amazon.co.uk Hive

Emily Wilson reflects on the power of language to evolve our understanding of the past

'Enthralling and profoundly relevant' Salman Rushdie

'Joyful, illuminating and engaging ' Madeline Miller

'A masterclass in translation' Blake Morrison, Guardian

How do we give old words new voices? What must a translator lose - and what might she gain - when she moves between languages, bringing ancient stories to modern life?

Emily Wilson has spent a lifetime wrestling with these questions: here, she invites us to consider the meaning and messages of translators from antiquity to today - and gives a wholly fresh insight into her own work on Homer.

From shifting depictions of Helen of Troy to Cardi B and Athenian comedy, Han Kang's novels and Rome's love of Greek culture, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is a playful and fascinating voyage into the promise, possibility and constant renewal of classical literature.

Publication date: June 4, 2026

£12.99

ISBN: 9781805225850

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, History & Classics

Reviews for Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea

'A masterclass in translation ... fascinating'

Blake Morrison Guardian

'An engaging investigation into the translator's art ... incisive'

Chris Power Observer

'Emily Wilson's brilliant reconsiderations of the ancient world - through the figure of Helen of Troy, the remaking of the Iliad by Christopher Logue, the use of comedy to grapple with dark matters, even slavery, and much besides - makes this an enthralling and profoundly relevant book'

Salman Rushdie 

'Wilson is unquestionably quite cool, and not just by the supposedly buttoned-up standards of her discipline'

 Financial Times

'Fascinating ... Wilson's book is a timely reminder that that selection of words and phrases is key to the richness of human interaction and explaining what we really mean'

 The Critic

'Excellent'

Rod Liddle Times Radio

'Surprising ... fascinating'

'70 Brilliant Books for the Summer' Guardian

'I adored reading these joyful, illuminating, and engrossing journeys through ancient literature. Wilson's interest is wide-ranging, moving with elegance and insight across genres and millennia. With wit, passion, and clarity, she invites us into each of these fascinating subjects. The final essay especially is required reading for anyone interested in translation, drawing back the veil on how a brilliant scholar and writer approaches her work'

Madeline Miller, author of THE SONG OF ACHILLES 

'Vaulting from the ancient to the modern and back again, this collection is erudite, insightful and provocative. An unparalleled insight into the work of a classicist and translator at the height of their powers'

Paul Cooper, author of FALL OF CIVILIZATIONS 

'We're incredibly lucky to have Emily Wilson writing about the art, politics and ethics of translation and retranslation. Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is an impressive display of Wilson's expertise, conviction and wit. Her impact within and without the world of literary translation has been huge'

Jen Calleja, author of FAIR: THE LIFE-ART OF TRANSLATION 

'Emily Wilson unlocks the gates to ancient Greece and Rome: her deep understanding of translation is the key'

Peter Stothard, author of HORACE: Poet on a Volcano 

'By turns witty, stylish, ethical and pugilistic, Wilson reveals herself to be as brilliant an essayist as she is a translator ... This sparkling collection uses the concept of translation to explore the varieties of the modern West's addictive relationship to the Greeks and Romans, from its arrant misreadings to those moments when the ancients appear as if in a mirror'

Tim Whitmarsh, author of BATTLING THE GODS 

'In her discussion of the possibilities and pitfalls of translation, Wilson has produced a passionately personal - and at times polemic - celebration of language and the power of literature to speak across millennia'

David Stuttard, author of A HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE IN 50 LIVES 

Emily Wilson

Emily Wilson

Emily Wilson was educated at Oxford and Yale. She now teaches Classics at the University of Pennsylvania.