b. 1971
The first woman to publish an English Odyssey; a clear, quick iambic line, matched line-for-line to the Greek.
The version that reset the conversation. Wilson writes a quick, clear, regular iambic pentameter and, remarkably, keeps to the same number of lines as the Greek, so nothing bloats. Her plain, precise diction strips away centuries of accumulated grandeur and makes the poem feel immediate and strange again; her introduction on translating gendered language is essential. Some readers miss the old sweep, but for a first Odyssey that you will actually read aloud, this is the one.
The modern reset, as her Odyssey was. Wilson writes a quick, clear iambic pentameter matched line-for-line to the Greek, so nothing bloats, and her plain, exact diction strips away centuries of grandeur to make the war feel immediate and terrible again. Her introduction and notes are outstanding. Some readers miss the old sweep, but for a first Iliad you will actually read aloud, this is the one.