'The Odyssey' film fuels book sales and this modern translation by a woman leads the pack

Corrections & clarifications: A previous version of this article misstated a sales timeframe. Emily Wilson's "The Odyssey" has sold more than 1 million copies since it was published. 

It may be summertime, but school’s back in session for those wanting to brush up on their Homer before they see Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”

Nolan’s epic, in theaters now, is a talker for its star-studded cast alone. USA TODAY critic Brian Truitt calls it “the greatest work on the iconic director’s noteworthy resume.” 

Homer’s epic Greek poem has been translated countless times, but there is only one published English translation by a woman. Nolan used several translations as inspiration, including Emily Wilson's, and cited her in an interview with Empire Magazine last year. Now, Wilson’s translation is flying off the shelves.

Emily Wilson’s ‘Odyssey’ translation is in high demand

Even the old can become new again. According to Circana BookScan, sales of all translations of the 3,000-year-old epic are up 76% year-to-date. Checkouts from e-book lender Libby have increased 217% from this time last year, according to data shared with USA TODAY. 

Some readers are seeking new formats to consume their classics. Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel is among the bestselling editions listed by BookScan. And global listens of “The Odyssey” audiobook on Spotify have increased more than 300%, according to data provided exclusively to USA TODAY by Spotify.

But no edition has seen readership this year like Wilson’s 2017 translation, the top-selling edition of this year, according to BookScan. 

Domestic sales of Wilson’s translation surpassed a million copies this year, according to Louise Brockett, spokeswoman and head of communications at W.W. Norton. Wilson’s publishers said the sales increase began after the movie was announced in December 2024. 

And good luck checking it out at your local library. Demand for Wilson’s translation is “outpacing others,” says Connor Goodwin, senior manager of public relations at the New York Public Library. Wilson’s edition accounts for 90% of print holds and 57% of ebook and audiobook holds in the NYPL system, which is one of the largest in the country.

What’s different about Emily Wilson’s ‘Odyssey’ translation?

Wilson’s translation is distinctly modern, with plain, accessible language that includes words like “daddy,” “crazy” and “tote bag.” This extends to Nolan’s “Odyssey,” too. The trailer, which featured Tom Holland’s Telemachus saying “dad,” garnered controversy.

Both Holland and Nolan defended the term, saying the more traditional “father” is just as inaccurate to the ancient Greek source material. 

“English – all registers of English, all dialects – is a modern language; authenticity on that level is impossible unless you’re going to compose a script entirely in Homeric Greek – which would be very fun but unlikely to do well at the box office,” Wilson told LADbible. 

Wilson’s translation is hailed and criticized alike as a feminist translation of “The Odyssey.” In a 2017 New Yorker essay, Wilson wrote that she made certain translation decisions so readers would feel Penelope’s grief over her marriage rather than “prettifying or trivializing” it like in other editions. 

In other instances, she forgoes misogynistic descriptors like “sluts” and instead uses “girls.” Notably, this happens after Odysseus slaughters Penelope’s suitors and tells Telemachus to kill the female slaves who have slept with them. 

“Contemporary translators and commentators often present the massacre of these women as if it were quite ordinary, and entirely justified,” Wilson writes in the New Yorker. “The murdered slaves are routinely described in contemporary American English translations as ‘disobedient maids’ and are labelled as ‘sluts’ or ‘whores’ – a level of verbal abuse that finds absolutely no analogue in the Greek.”

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].