{"id":174569,"date":"2026-07-21T11:39:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T15:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=174569"},"modified":"2026-07-21T12:49:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T16:49:40","slug":"the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/","title":{"rendered":"How Could I Forget Odysseus?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_174571\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-174571\" class=\"size-large wp-image-174571\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2-1024x795.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2-1024x795.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2-300x233.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2-768x596.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2-1536x1192.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2.jpg 1676w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-174571\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cAn ambitious adaptation of the <em>Odyssey<\/em>, enacted by us children.\u201d Photograph courtesy of Emily Wilson.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Each week, <\/em>The Paris Review<em> unlocks stories, poems, and interviews for our readers from our archive. Sign up for the <a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/theparisreview.org\/newslettersignup\">Redux<\/a> newsletter\u00a0to receive these pieces to your inbox every Sunday morning.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In 2017, to accompany her\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=e0c8cbcae8&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3De0c8cbcae8%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1AZimZWjywtzsvXeI3W10v\">translation<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0<em>Odyssey<\/em>, which was excerpted in issue no. 221 of the\u00a0<em>Review<\/em>, Emily Wilson wrote a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=5e036f9d9b&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3D5e036f9d9b%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0SPtxOn0fCypHH3xas6fUG\">piece<\/a>\u00a0for our website in which she recalls performing in a children\u2019s production of Homer\u2019s epic at eight years old. It was this turn on the stage that inspired Wilson\u2019s early encounters with the text she would come to translate. \u201cI loved that Odysseus could transition so easily from being somebody to being nobody, and back again,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Tell me about a complicated man.<br \/>\nMuse, tell me how he wandered and was lost \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Later that year, the\u00a0<em>Review<\/em>\u00a0published a series of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=b7713c69af&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3Db7713c69af%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3jLokn0x6JzojpMK-kVOrC\">snapshots<\/a>\u201d on our website, taken by the translator Daniel Mendelsohn on a cruise designed to retrace Odysseus\u2019s steps through the Mediterranean\u2014a cruise Mendelsohn took with his eighty-one-year-old father. \u201cOdysseus wanted to know the minds of men,\u201d Mendelsohn wrote. \u201cIn a certain sense, he\u2019s the first anthropologist in Western literature \u2026 I found my father\u2019s indefatigable recording of everything endearing \u2026 I thought it was really funny, when we got there, that he was taking pictures and making notes about the ship. I said,\u00a0<em>Really<\/em>, Dad? And he replied, Everything is part of this experience. Which was a very Odysseus-like attitude, actually.\u201d In 2024, the\u00a0<em>Review<\/em>\u00a0published an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=3717cf0c17&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3D3717cf0c17%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0cknp5wm9JtmEDQSgO9ozi\">excerpt<\/a> from Mendelsohn\u2019s translation of Homer\u2019s epic.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"verse\">It is he whom Zeus now orders you to send on his way with all speed,<br \/>\n<\/span>For it is not his fate to perish here, far from his loved ones.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Wilson\u2019s translation of the\u00a0<em>Odyssey<\/em>, among others, served as a source for Christopher Nolan\u2019s screen adaptation of Homer\u2019s epic, which premiered in theaters this Friday. This week, to mark the occasion of Nolan\u2019s film\u2014and to give you a chance to catch up with this \u201ccomplicated man\u201d\u2014we\u2019ve unlocked\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=14b2d01a2d&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3D14b2d01a2d%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw37k88_MtpZQ6PXF9VJ24Ir\">Wilson<\/a>\u2019s and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=13fbb92b47&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3D13fbb92b47%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1l6oA37I_zFOXZCZOyRsrc\">Mendelsohn<\/a>\u2019s translations from the archive.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=ad8d1a7afe&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3Dad8d1a7afe%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Nqhj7z1jsWki8NyOO6rse\"><strong>From Homer\u2019s \u2018Odyssey,\u2019 Book I<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: times new roman, times, baskerville, georgia, serif;\"><em>Homer, translated by Emily Wilson<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cDaughter!\u201d the Cloud God said, \u201cYou must be joking,<br \/>\nsince how could I forget Odysseus?<br \/>\nHe is more sensible than other humans,<br \/>\nand makes more sacrifices to the gods.<br \/>\nBut Lord Poseidon rages, unrelenting,<br \/>\nbecause Odysseus destroyed the eye<br \/>\nof godlike Polyphemus, his own son,<br \/>\nthe strongest of the Cyclopes\u2014whose mother,<br \/>\nTho\u00f6sa, is a sea nymph, child of Phorcys,<br \/>\nthe sea king; and she lay beside Poseidon<br \/>\ninside a hollow cave. So now Poseidon<br \/>\nprevents Odysseus from reaching home,<br \/>\nbut does not kill him. Come then, we must plan:<br \/>\nHow can he get back home? Poseidon must<br \/>\ngive up his anger, since he cannot fight<br \/>\nalone against the will of all the gods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: right;\">From issue no. 221 (Summer 2017)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=b6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde&amp;id=f2f3fc8fdf&amp;e=1215d418d0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/theparisreview.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3Db6c161007733f0d4c084f3fde%26id%3Df2f3fc8fdf%26e%3D1215d418d0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1784731218881000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3SrZXs5bRjj_-7FTJPEyYg\"><strong>from\u00a0<em>The Odyssey<\/em>, Book Five<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: times new roman, times, baskerville, georgia, serif;\"><em>Homer, translated by Daniel Mendelsohn<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"verse\">When he reached the island at last\u2014it lies off at a great distance\u2014<br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"verse\">He emerged from the violet-dark sea and then made his way onto<br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"verse\">Dry land, until he reached an enormous cave where the nymph<br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"verse\">Of the beautiful braids had her dwelling. There, inside, he found her.<br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"verse\">An enormous fire was burning upon the hearth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: right;\">From issue no. 248 (Summer 2024)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Emily Wilson is a professor of classics at the University of Pennsylvania.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"message-list\">\n<div id=\"message-list\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"message-list_1784646117.600509\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" aria-labelledby=\"primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-sender primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-message_text primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-alt_text primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-date_time primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-reaction_count primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-reply_count primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-link_count primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-attachment_count primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-has_draft_reply primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-pinned_state primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-edited_state primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-later_state primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-broadcast_state primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-broadcast_thread_root_message primary-D0AJSH26LDC-1784646117.600509-translated_state\">\n<div>\n<div aria-roledescription=\"message\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><i>Daniel Mendelsohn is the author of <\/i>An Odyssey<i>, winner of the Prix M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e \u00e9tranger; the international best seller <\/i>The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million; <em>and<\/em><i> <\/i>The Elusive Embrace<i>, a <\/i>New York Times<i> Notable Book and a <\/i>Los Angeles Times<i> Best Book of the Year<\/i><i>. He teaches literature at Bard College.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"message-list_bottomSpacer\" aria-setsize=\"-1\">\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sr-only\" aria-owns=\"message-list_1784606400000.D0AJSH26LDC message-list_1784644735.721119 message-list_1784644741.599019 message-list_1784644742.431499 message-list_1784644744.390199 message-list_1784644746.530139 message-list_1784644747.336909 message-list_1784644748.431719 message-list_1784644751.152529 message-list_1784644752.010469 message-list_1784644755.473469 message-list_1784644999.358769 message-list_1784645475.346159 message-list_1784646117.600509 message-list_bottomSpacer\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI loved that Odysseus could transition so easily from being somebody to being nobody, and back again.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[491,9988,29158,32281,67827,2682,2683],"class_list":["post-174569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux","tag-christopher-nolan","tag-daniel-mendelsohn","tag-emily-wilson","tag-emily-wilson-the-odyssey","tag-featured","tag-homer","tag-the-odyssey"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Could I Forget Odysseus? by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"July 21, 2026 \u2013 \u201cI loved that Odysseus could transition so easily from being somebody to being nobody, and back again.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Could I Forget Odysseus? by The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 21, 2026 \u2013 \u201cI loved that Odysseus could transition so easily from being somebody to being nobody, and back again.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T15:39:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T16:49:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1676\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1301\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\"},\"headline\":\"How Could I Forget Odysseus?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T15:39:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-21T16:49:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/\"},\"wordCount\":645,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/emily-wilson-odyssey-age-8-polyphemus-2-1024x795.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Christopher Nolan\",\"Daniel Mendelsohn\",\"Emily Wilson\",\"Emily Wilson The Odyssey\",\"Featured\",\"Homer\",\"The Odyssey\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Redux\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/07\/21\/the-paris-review-redux-how-could-i-forget-odysseus\/\",\"name\":\"How Could I Forget Odysseus? 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