What are good book club discussion questions for Crossing The Wine Dark Sea?

Spoiler-free questions to get the conversation going: Where did you first meet Homer, if you have: a classroom, a children's version, a film, a myth someone told you? Tell us about that first encounter and how it felt; Is there a word in a language you know that you have never been able to translate for someone? Say it out loud for us and try anyway; Wilson treats every word choice as something that matters. Was there a moment in her explanation of the work that made you feel protective of a particular word or phrase?; The sea in Homer is famously described with colors that do not match what we see. How did sitting with that strangeness make you feel: unsettled, delighted, a little homesick for a world we cannot quite picture?; Translation asks someone to speak in another person's voice for years at a time. Have you ever had to carry someone else's words faithfully (a letter, a eulogy, a grandparent's story), and what did that feel like in your body?.

What food and drinks should I serve at a Crossing The Wine Dark Sea book club?

Food: A warm mezze board (soft pita, whipped feta, olives, roasted red pepper dip), Lemon avgolemono soup in mugs, and Honey and walnut yogurt with a drizzle of good olive oil. Drinks: Mountain tea (or chamomile) with honey, A soft, easygoing Greek red (Agiorgitiko), and Retsina spritz (retsina over ice with soda and a lemon peel).

Cozy night

Crossing The Wine Dark SeaBook club questions, food & host guide

Emily Wilson

#3 New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller 1 week on the list

A cozy book club night for Crossing The Wine Dark Sea by Emily Wilson. Includes 8 spoiler-free discussion questions, food and drink pairings, a playlist, and a host guide, ready to print and share.

A club of word lovers and slow readers who like a short, rich piece and a long, unhurried talk about it

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Emily Wilson, the acclaimed translator of the Iliad and the Odyssey, opens the door to her workshop and shows what it actually takes to carry ancient Greek poetry into modern English. It is a short, generous piece about words, choices, and the strange intimacy of living inside someone else's sentences.

Why it works for clubs

Short enough that everyone will actually finish it, which makes for a relaxed, fully present conversation
Everyone has opinions about translation, even people who have never studied Greek
It invites personal stories about the versions of Homer (or any old story) people first met
It quietly asks what we owe to old texts, which is a warm, big question with no wrong answers

Themes & mood

Bookish comfort Ancient stories Language love Quietly thoughtful Homecoming

Reading level

Moderate

Warm-up questions

1 Where did you first meet Homer, if you have: a classroom, a children's version, a film, a myth someone told you? Tell us about that first encounter and how it felt.
2 Is there a word in a language you know that you have never been able to translate for someone? Say it out loud for us and try anyway.

Digging in

1 Wilson treats every word choice as something that matters. Was there a moment in her explanation of the work that made you feel protective of a particular word or phrase?
2 The sea in Homer is famously described with colors that do not match what we see. How did sitting with that strangeness make you feel: unsettled, delighted, a little homesick for a world we cannot quite picture?
3 Translation asks someone to speak in another person's voice for years at a time. Have you ever had to carry someone else's words faithfully (a letter, a eulogy, a grandparent's story), and what did that feel like in your body?
4 The Odyssey is, at heart, about trying to get home. What did reading a piece about that poem stir up in you about your own idea of home right now?

Going deep

1 Wilson makes the case that there is no neutral translation, that someone is always choosing. Did that comfort you or unsettle you, and did it change how you feel about any beloved book you have only read in English?
2 By the end of the piece, what feeling were you left holding: awe at the difficulty, warmth toward the translator, restlessness to go read Homer, something else entirely? Try to name it without summarizing how she gets there.

On the table

A warm mezze board (soft pita, whipped feta, olives, roasted red pepper dip)

Easy, shareable Greek comfort you can assemble in twenty minutes, and it keeps hands busy while people talk.

Lemon avgolemono soup in mugs

The coziest thing in the Greek kitchen, brothy and lemony, and mugs mean no fussy table setting.

Honey and walnut yogurt with a drizzle of good olive oil

Honey, olives, and grain are the oldest foods in the poems, served here as an easy, indulgent spoonable dessert.

To sip

Mountain tea (or chamomile) with honey No alcohol

Greek hillside tea, steeped in a big pot and poured all night. Gentle, caffeine-free, and it makes the room smell like a kitchen you want to stay in.

A soft, easygoing Greek red (Agiorgitiko)

For anyone who wants to literally toast the wine dark sea, without needing anyone to be an expert about it.

Retsina spritz (retsina over ice with soda and a lemon peel)

Pine-resined wine lightened into something friendly. A conversation starter that requires zero technique.