Emily Wilson, “Destiny, Tradition, Choice”

As part of the 2023-2024 Potamianos Lecture Series “The Myth, Magic, and Mystery of the Ancient Greeks,”, Prof. Emily Wilson’s “Destiny, Tradition, Choice” will examine the profound influence of ancient Greece on our contemporary world.

Emily Wilson has dedicated her career to investigating the profound and varied influences of ancient Greek and Roman literature on later cultures, to uncovering surprising new angles on canonical works of ancient poetry and philosophy, and to making these complex texts available to contemporary audiences. She has been instrumental in shedding new light on the works of ancient writers and promoting an inclusive and diverse perspective in classical studies.

She is, perhaps, best known for her critically acclaimed translation of The Odyssey (2017) into English, providing a fresh, unique translation of Homer’s work in iambic pentameter. Wilson’s Odyssey was named by The New York Times as one of its 100 notable books of 2018, and it was shortlisted for the 2018 National Translation Award. In 2019, Wilson was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “genius grant” for her work bringing classical literature to new audiences.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Emily Wilson is a professor in the Department of Classical Studies and serves as the Chair of the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory. Her highly anticipated translation of the Iliad is set to be published this September by W.W. Norton & Company.