Landmark Booksellers Event with Daniel Mendelsohn

Classicist & Translator of Homer's Odyssey

Last week, classicist Dr. Daniel Mendelsohn spoke about his recent translation of Homer’s Odyssey at Landmark Booksellers. His translation was published by the University of Chicago Press and follows in the footsteps of the great 1951 Iliad translation by Richard Lattimore.

Dr. Mendelsohn’s talk was fascinating. He discussed the art of translation, specific word choices, the project timeframe, working style, and Homer’s influence on our world. A Q&A session followed along with the chance to meet the author.

Here are a few insights from Dr. Mendelsohn that I found particularly interesting:

• The Wine Dark Sea - many English translations of the Odyssey render the description of the sea as the “wine dark sea.” Dr. Mendelsohn research led him to render it as the wine-faced sea, highlighting all of the different colors of the sea. It could be dark like a fine red wine or transparent like a light white wine.

• Winged Words - other English translations speak of words spoken as “winged word,” giving the impression they flutter about like butterflies to their intended recipient. Upon further research, Dr. Mendelsohn understood the word for wing to relate more to feathers and specifically to the feathers that adorn an arrow. The connotation is of passionate speech. He renders this as “words that flew toward him like arrows.”

• Timeframe & Workflow - Dr. Mendelsohn was approached by The University of Chicago Press in early 2018 for the idea of this translation. He then set about the process of translating around 30 lines each day for the next 4 years. He then spent another 2 years working through the text line by line with his mentor, Jenny Strauss Clay. The book is dedicated to Jenny. Dr. Mendelsohn would wake up early, drink a pot of coffee, and then set about translating from 7am until lunchtime. He would take numerous detours to read books about the Odyssey throughout the process.

• An Odyssey Guy - in the age-old battle between being an Iliad person or an Odyssey person, Dr. Mendelsohn says he is clearly on the side of the Odyssey. (FWIW, I’m an Iliad guy).

• Bob Gottlieb - Bob (an Iliad guy), was a friend and mentor to Dr. Mendelsohn and read this translation in the final months of his life in 2024.

• Favorite Greek Tragedy - as Dr. Mendelsohn was signing my copy of his Odyssey, I asked him what his favorite Greek Tragedy was and he said Philoctetes by Sophocles. That is also my favorite tragedy and it gave me tremendous joy to know that an expert in Greek Tragedy claimed that as his favorite.