Fox the Mutt

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Part of what's silly about the Emily Wilson fuss is people on twitter talk as if her Homer translations have the Greeks all go to therapy and work out their differences over cups of soy ambrosia and then you actually read her verse and it's metal as hell

There’s something a little distracting about this…

Controversy has erupted over Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming film adaptation of Homer’s poem The Odyssey, which arrives in the wake of a contested 2017 translation by Emily Wilson, a classics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Critics of Wilson’s translation argue that she has rewritten Odysseus from a hero into a morally suspect figure. Nolan cast a black actress, Lupita Nyong’o, to play the Mediterranean woman Helen of Troy, prompting criticisms of hypocrisy and racism from Elon Musk and others. It is inconceivable that Hollywood would today use a white actor to play a black character, and yet the media applauds when white characters are played by black actors. Isabella Reinhardt, an assistant professor of classics at the University of Austin, and my colleague, disagrees with some of Wilson’s choices. For example, Wilson translates polytropos, which Homer uses to describe Odysseus, as a “complicated man,” where Robert Fagles, in his 1996 translation, renders it as a “man of twists and turns.” The choice is representative of Wilson’s depiction of Odysseus as something other than heroic. Reinhardt, who recorded a podcast with me last week, received her PhD in the same Penn classics department where Wilson teaches. “I do think Odysseus is not a perfect hero,” says Reinhardt, “but he is the hero. Her translation strays into a negative view of Odysseus that’s not entirely warranted....” Please subscribe now to support Public's award-winning journalism, read the full article, and watch the full podcast!

Emily Wilson completely changed the meaning of a key word in the Odyssey to make it seem like Helen of Troy didn't blame herself for starting the Trojan War, when in fact the text makes it clear that she did. In 4.145-146, Helen calls herself κυνώπιδος (dog-faced). This is an insult meaning "shameless." It is commonly used to refer to unfaithful lovers. For example, it is used elsewhere in the Odyssey (8.319) to refer to Aphrodite after she cheats on Hephaestus with Ares. Fagles translates 4.145-146 to: "all you Achaeans fought at Troy, launching your headlong battles just for my sake, shameless whore that I was.” Lattimore translates 4.145-146 to: "for the sake of shameless me, the Achaians went beneath Troy, their hearts intent upon reckless warfare." Wilson completely changes the meaning of κυνώπιδος to "hounded" (she is trying to be cute by translating 'dog-faced' to a word that still relates to dogs, even though its actual meaning is completely unrelated). She then applies this word to the Achaeans, saying that they were hounded, not Helen. Her translation is in the image below. This is obviously an ideological change that she made because she personally believes Helen shouldn't be blamed for the Trojan War. She deliberated distorted the meaning of one of the foundational texts of Western literature to conform with her modern beliefs.

Emily Wilson is a kind of a feminist that is truly a bad person that wants to hurt you. Not directly, but in depth, through her profession as a classicist. She is attacking my culture and the Greeks because she hates virtues. She is blatantly lying because most of you don't know to read Greek. But I am Greek and I can read both modern and ancient Greek. So let me tell you why she is purposely lying. The references with insulting epithets toward the servant/slave women who betrayed Odysseus’s house and slept with the suitors are numerous. The most common ones, however, are "bitches" and "shameless" that were serious insults. Most foreigners translated the word "bitch" as "slut" which is correct to say that this is wrong because it's not what the text writes but in a sense of "non-literal translation" it's not out of context because those women who slept with the suitors and betrayed Penelope were "shameless bitches". Especially the word "shameless" is a strong insult in Greek. It implies sexual shamelessness lack of decency, and moral boldness and this is why foreign translators are using the word "sluts" in English. But Homer doesn't use the Greek word directly to call them "whores". The following translations I will use are made directly from the ancient Greek text into modern Greek. We Greeks do not read foreign translations. What we call an adaptation (απόδοση) from ancient to modern Greek is not considered a "translation" for us, since it is the same language. In other words an adaptation of a Greek text bridges the gap between ancient or dialectic Greek and the modern target audience. 1. Odysseus to a servant woman (Book 18, line 340): "Bitch, if I go and immediately repeat your wretched words to Telemachus, he will tear you to pieces, you’ll be smashed into bits." [ἦ τάχα Τηλεμάχῳ ἐρέω, κύον (=Bitch), οἷ᾽ ἀγορεύεις, κεῖσ᾽ ἐλθών, ἵνα σ᾽ αὖθι διὰ μελεϊστὶ τάμῃσιν] 2. Penelope to Melantho (the servant who slept with Eurymachus and betrayed them), when Melantho spoke rudely to Odysseus (who was still disguised) (Book 19, line 91): "Nevertheless, you bold, shameless bitch, you do not escape my notice at all, doing a great deed which you will wipe off on your own head." [πάντως, θαρσαλέη, κύον ἀδεές (=fearless bitch), οὔ τί με λήθεις ἔρδουσα μέγα ἔργον, ὃ σῇ κεφαλῇ ἀναμάξεις] 3. "Perhaps in foreign lands too, some servant women insult him, every time he enters a famous lord’s house, just like these bitches here who all together insult you, stranger. I imagine that to avoid their reproach, their shamelessness…" (Book 19, around line 370) 4. "Servant women shamelessly dragging themselves here and there." (Book 20, line 318) 5. "Twelve of them appeared completely shameless, who had no regard for me and showed no respect to Penelope." (Book 22, line 422) Emily Wilson cannot tolerate any criticism of the women who betrayed the man Odysseus and slept like shameless bitches with the enemy, betraying Penelope. In her worldview, men are always the bad guys, and only women are the heroines. She herself calls the academic translators misogynists. It is inconceivable that there are today "eunuch" academics who defend this malicious and worthless woman. This woman is in Classical Studies in order to destroy them, so that you, who will read her books, will form a false image of the epics that built Western civilization. How Odysseus is not a hero, Achilles is not a hero, men are not great and brave but evil, and how the patriarchy must be fought so that women can win. They are trying to convince you that there is no heroism in Homer. Yet the epics were written precisely for this reason: so that you understand what it means to be a hero, what sacrifices are required, what difficulties you will face, and how you will achieve eternal fame. How you will conquer your passions, how anger destroys you, and how moral virtues lead you toward godlike status. She hates all of this. She wants you spiritually dead. She hates you. Therefore, it is completely justified for you to hate them too.

Emily Wilson is a kind of a feminist that is truly a bad person that wants to hurt you. Not directly, but in depth, through her profession as a classicist. She is attacking my culture and the Greeks because she hates virtues. She is blatantly lying because most of you don't know to read Greek. But I am Greek and I can read both modern and ancient Greek. So let me tell you why she is purposely lying. The references with insulting epithets toward the servant/slave women who betrayed Odysseus’s house and slept with the suitors are numerous. The most common ones, however, are "bitches" and "shameless" that were serious insults. Most foreigners translated the word "bitch" as "slut" which is correct to say that this is wrong because it's not what the text writes but in a sense of "non-literal translation" it's not out of context because those women who slept with the suitors and betrayed Penelope were "shameless bitches". Especially the word "shameless" is a strong insult in Greek. It implies sexual shamelessness lack of decency, and moral boldness and this is why foreign translators are using the word "sluts" in English. But Homer doesn't use the Greek word directly to call them "whores". The following translations I will use are made directly from the ancient Greek text into modern Greek. We Greeks do not read foreign translations. What we call an adaptation (απόδοση) from ancient to modern Greek is not considered a "translation" for us, since it is the same language. In other words an adaptation of a Greek text bridges the gap between ancient or dialectic Greek and the modern target audience. 1. Odysseus to a servant woman (Book 18, line 340): "Bitch, if I go and immediately repeat your wretched words to Telemachus, he will tear you to pieces, you’ll be smashed into bits." [ἦ τάχα Τηλεμάχῳ ἐρέω, κύον (=Bitch), οἷ᾽ ἀγορεύεις, κεῖσ᾽ ἐλθών, ἵνα σ᾽ αὖθι διὰ μελεϊστὶ τάμῃσιν] 2. Penelope to Melantho (the servant who slept with Eurymachus and betrayed them), when Melantho spoke rudely to Odysseus (who was still disguised) (Book 19, line 91): "Nevertheless, you bold, shameless bitch, you do not escape my notice at all, doing a great deed which you will wipe off on your own head." [πάντως, θαρσαλέη, κύον ἀδεές (=fearless bitch), οὔ τί με λήθεις ἔρδουσα μέγα ἔργον, ὃ σῇ κεφαλῇ ἀναμάξεις] 3. "Perhaps in foreign lands too, some servant women insult him, every time he enters a famous lord’s house, just like these bitches here who all together insult you, stranger. I imagine that to avoid their reproach, their shamelessness…" (Book 19, around line 370) 4. "Servant women shamelessly dragging themselves here and there." (Book 20, line 318) 5. "Twelve of them appeared completely shameless, who had no regard for me and showed no respect to Penelope." (Book 22, line 422) Emily Wilson cannot tolerate any criticism of the women who betrayed the man Odysseus and slept like shameless bitches with the enemy, betraying Penelope. In her worldview, men are always the bad guys, and only women are the heroines. She herself calls the academic translators misogynists. It is inconceivable that there are today "eunuch" academics who defend this malicious and worthless woman. This woman is in Classical Studies in order to destroy them, so that you, who will read her books, will form a false image of the epics that built Western civilization. How Odysseus is not a hero, Achilles is not a hero, men are not great and brave but evil, and how the patriarchy must be fought so that women can win. They are trying to convince you that there is no heroism in Homer. Yet the epics were written precisely for this reason: so that you understand what it means to be a hero, what sacrifices are required, what difficulties you will face, and how you will achieve eternal fame. How you will conquer your passions, how anger destroys you, and how moral virtues lead you toward godlike status. She hates all of this. She wants you spiritually dead. She hates you. Therefore, it is completely justified for you to hate them too.

Christopher Nolan says Lupita Nyong'o was his first choice to play Helen of Troy in The Odyssey (2026) because the role needed “strength and poise” as much as beauty. “And Lupita makes it look effortless.” “I was absolutely desperate for her to do the part.”

Mamdani: "Of the Margret Thatcher quote, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. If anything my friends, it seems you eventually need a socialist to clean up the mess."

Mamdani: "Of the Margret Thatcher quote, the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. If anything my friends, it seems you eventually need a socialist to clean up the mess."