The Classics Lab

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For 400 years, male translators quietly rewrote Homer to make women look worse and heroes look better.

Then one woman translated The Odyssey—and exposed everything they'd changed.

In 2017, Emily Wilson became the first woman to translate *The Odyssey* into English.

Suddenly, readers saw a very different Homer.

It started with one word.

Odysseus is described as *polytropos*. Earlier translators called him "resourceful," "versatile," even heroic.

Wilson chose one word instead.

"Complicated."

Everything shifted.

Odysseus wasn't simply noble. He became morally uncertain, deceptive, and deeply human—the way Homer originally portrayed him.

Then came the women.

The Greek word *dmôai* means enslaved women.

For centuries, English translations softened it into "maids," "maidservants," or "girls." Some even labeled them "guilty," "s***s," or "wh**es," making it seem they deserved their fate.

Wilson translated one word exactly as it was.

"Slaves."

The entire scene changed.

These weren't disloyal servants. They were enslaved women with no power, no choice, and no escape.

Penelope changed too.

Instead of a quiet, patient wife, Wilson restored Homer's clever strategist. She delays the suitors, gathers information, and even tests Odysseus before believing him.

She wasn't passive.

She was calculating.

Calypso's story changed as well.

What earlier translations softened into romance, Wilson revealed as captivity. Odysseus wasn't staying willingly.

He was trapped.

Wilson didn't invent a new *Odyssey*. She returned to the Greek and asked a simple question.

What did Homer actually write?

She translated words consistently, refused to soften slavery or violence, and stripped away centuries of cultural assumptions.

When her translation appeared in 2017, it became a bestseller and sparked fierce debate.

Some claimed she modernized Homer.

Her answer was simple.

Read the Greek.

Emily Wilson didn't rewrite *The Odyssey*.

She removed four centuries of editorial filters—and let Homer speak for himself.

On this day in 212 AD, Caracalla made all free people Roman citizens! Read more about the hereditary nature of Roman citizenship and how Caracalla's edict changed things in Suburani Ch. 18!

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Gladiators were celebrities, the Roman ideal of masculinity. But what if, hidden among their ranks, were women? “Queens of Combat” premieres Wednesday, January 28 at 10/9c on PBS.

Latin Study Club is back! 🎉
Join us for our first meeting of the New Year.

🗓 January 12th | 5:00 PM
📍 Brookwood Library, Hillsboro (2nd-floor boardroom)

Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out!

This is a personal New Year message from over 1,900 years ago. It is part of the remarkable archive of writing tablets (thin pieces of wood written on with ink, similar to a postcard) which have been uncovered here at Roman Vindolanda.

The fragment is of a letter from Hostilius Flavianus to Flavius Cerialis the Commanding Officer of the IX Cohort of Batavians who were stationed at Vindolanda in about AD 97-105. He wishes Cerialis "a fortunate and happy New Year".

We share that ancient wish with you all again today and would like to thank you for all the likes, comments and shares in 2025. We look forward to sharing more of our news, images & events and of course the excitement from the Vindolanda & Magna excavations with you all in 2026.

Italian Christmas Market in San Francisco, CA! ❤️

See you there!!!