Homer’s Odyssey in Film Adaptations and Ukrainian Translations

The 21st-century human faces the exact same challenges that confronted Homeric heroes. In a globalized world where identity is often blurred, we still yearn for the smoke of our native land.

From this perspective, Odysseus emerges as an entirely new type of human, for whom traditional values in the mytho-poetic world matter less than the elusive bonds that prevent one from losing personal dignity.

So what is more important: returning to Ithaca or constantly striving for it? What should an adaptation of the poem look like? What did director Christopher Nolan succeed at, and where did he fall short?

• Ukrainian culture has two full translations of the Odyssey: by Petro Nishchynskyi and Borys Ten, offering not only different translation strategies but also distinct visions of the Homeric world.

• A translation that is a century and a half old remains engaging to modern readers not through formal means of nativizing the Greek poem, but thanks to its immersion in the native linguistic element.

• The task of the editor of an old Ukrainian translation was to find themselves transported to that era.

Lecturer: Lyubymir Koblyk. Editor of the Odyssey translated by Petro Baida-Nishchynskyi.

• Venue: Online (Zoom)
• Duration: 2 hours
• Recording: Yes, provided for participants

Note: If you want to receive only the recording, register via "online participation." After registration, you will be redirected to a Telegram group chat where all necessary information will be posted.