# I listened to The Odyssey, the Wilson translation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-listened-to-the-odyssey-the-wilson-translation/1032176>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 6, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-listened-to-the-odyssey-the-wilson-translation/1032176 "2026-08-06T01:24:08Z")\
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**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-listened-to-the-odyssey-the-wilson-translation/1032176/29 "2026-08-08T03:13:52Z")

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Dactylic hexameter.

[It’s a mess to explain so just look at my wiki link.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter)

In short, read this line stressing and elongating the first syllable of each foot and giving less emphasis to the following two syllables. The last foot is just one stressed syllable and one unstressed to end the line

KITtens in MARyland GO to the SHELter where PEOple will HELP them.

The woman who’s reading the Iliad at 5:30 in this link is really demonstrating it well

[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/roNy5seBnK8/hqdefault.jpg "Homeric epic meter: dactylic hexameter | Reading practice, with Leonard Muellner") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roNy5seBnK8)

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