Over sixty English translations of the Odyssey exist. The few that matter differ less in accuracy than in temperament, so the right one is mostly a question of which voice you want in your ear for twelve thousand lines.
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey opens July 17, starring Matt Damon. He's singled out Emily Wilson's translation — among several he studied — when describing the film.
Start with Wilson →“Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost…”
The first published English Odyssey by a woman, and the one that broke the poem open for a new generation. Wilson writes in plain, propulsive modern English at exactly the line count of the Greek. Plainness here is not the opposite of fidelity; it is how she achieves it.
Her introduction alone is worth the price. For almost everyone, and for anyone reading ahead of the 2026 film, this is where to begin.
Six honest questions. Answer the one that sounds like you, and take the door it opens.
Nine translations worth knowing. Four you buy, five you can have for nothing, and the difference in price says little about the difference in pleasure.
Modern, fast and clear, at exactly the line count of the Greek. The natural starting point, and the version most connected to the Nolan film.
Cinematic and grand, built to be read aloud. The crowd-pleaser for readers who want sweep and momentum.
The most overtly poetic of the modern versions: beautiful, allusive, occasionally demanding. Read it for the music of the line.
The closest mirror of the Greek in English, with formulaic epithets kept where Homer placed them. Demanding, but unmatched for study.
The same poem, nine ways. What changes is the temperament, and that is the part no table can quite capture.
| Translation | Year | Style | Reads like | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily Wilson | 2017 | Verse | Fast, modern, clear | Buy |
| Robert Fagles | 1996 | Verse | Dramatic, cinematic | Buy |
| Robert Fitzgerald | 1961 | Verse | Lyrical, poetic | Buy |
| Richmond Lattimore | 1965 | Verse | Precise, scholarly | Buy |
| Samuel Butler | 1900 | Prose | Plain, easy | Free |
| Alexander Pope | 1725 | Rhymed verse | Grand, archaic | Free |
| William Cowper | 1791 | Blank verse | Dignified | Free |
| Butcher & Lang | 1879 | Prose | Stately, biblical | Free |
| George Chapman | 1614 | Verse | Elizabethan, dense | Free |
Which one is right for you? Compare every translation by reader type →
In an interview with Empire, Nolan singled out Emily Wilson's 2017 translation and its opening line — though he's said he studied several versions (Fagles and E. V. Rieu among them). There's no single "official" tie-in translation, but Wilson is the version most associated with the film and the most accessible for new readers.
Emily Wilson in verse, or Samuel Butler in prose, and Butler is free. Both use direct, modern language without archaic vocabulary. Wilson keeps the poetry; Butler reads like a novel.
Yes. Any translation published before about 1930 is public domain in the US, including Butler, Pope, Cowper, Butcher & Lang, and Chapman. The modern translations (Wilson, Fagles, Fitzgerald, Lattimore) remain in copyright and must be bought.
No. The Odyssey stands completely on its own, and it is the more inviting of the two epics. It takes place after the Trojan War, but it carries everything you need to follow it.
Verse if you want the experience Homer intended; try Wilson. Prose if you want the story as smoothly as possible; try Butler. There is no wrong answer. The best translation is the one you actually finish.
Free companions to the poem — plus an honest guide to choosing the translation that fits you.