Hearing classicist and translator Emily Wilson reciting in Greek the first lines of The Odyssey on NPR’s Fresh Air reminded me how grand and mysterious the language of the ancients can be, in the right hands (or, rather, on the right tongue). So making a Poetry DNA mix of her performance meant finding a musical setting appropriate to the voice, words, rhythms, and tone. Lacking an ancient Greek lyre, I recorded a melody–inspired by Wilson’s words–on teardrop mandolin, added a tambourine track and a kick drum, and a few bass notes from an ancient Fender Squier electric.

Poetry DNA mix of Emily Wilson reciting The Odyssey

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As I was grappling with the “six” rhythm and finding a tempo suggested by Wilson’s delivery (91 bpm, in 6/8 time to approximate what might have fit the ancient Homeric dactylic), lo and behold, a promotional rap for Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey movie popped up on the socials. A handful of the movie’s actors stated their character names and “recapped the story in one minute,” even reminding listeners of Homeric meter:

The word “cringe” appeared more than once in the comments. But, hey, could be worse, right? And those hurling insults–could they do better? But I agree that the attempt to hip-hoppify the Odyssey was an awkward shoehorn. I thought we had safely left Hamiltons in the recent dusty past where they belong.

OK, thanks for listening to the Poetry DNA remix, and tell me what you think. Cringe? Abysmal? Mysterious and magical? Something in between?

Here’s to the ancients and their music.

–Poetry DNA Poet, 8/2/26

P.S. Find my earlier attempt at exploring Homeric meter (along with some links to scholarly sources) on this site here.