Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea Journeys through Ancient Literature

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A FOYLES AND BLACKWELLS PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2026

'Enthralling and profoundly relevant' Salman Rushdie

'Wilson's excitement for her subject is irrepressibly moving' New York Times

'A masterclass in translation' Blake Morrison, Guardian

How do we give old words new voices? What must a translator lose - and what might she gain - when she moves between languages, bringing ancient stories to modern life?

Emily Wilson has spent a lifetime wrestling with these questions: here, she invites us to consider the meaning and messages of translators from antiquity to today - and gives a wholly fresh insight into her own work on Homer.

From shifting depictions of Helen of Troy to Cardi B and Athenian comedy, Han Kang's novels and Rome's love of Greek culture, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is a playful and fascinating voyage into the promise, possibility and constant renewal of classical literature.