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The Odyssey of Homer
from international collectors library "The Odyssey was already an ancient and revered classic to the Athenians of the 6th century B.C., and it was recited in full together with the Iliad, at a public festival held every four years. ... The version now offered by the International Collectors Library is the work of Robert Fitzgerald, who has translated other Greek classics and published three books of his own poetry. His Odyssey, ... combines a fidelity to the Greek original and a lucid contemporaneity. And Homer is truly contemporaneous - for he is blessed with the rare gift of an ever-youthful heart that makes for timelessness. ... His Odysseus - whom you now meet - will always remain among the towering characters of legendary fiction."
- GenresClassics
327 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2015
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32 people want to read
About the author
Homer
4,727 books7,097 followersHomer (Greek: Όμηρος born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.
The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.
French: Homère, Italian: Omero, Portuguese, Spanish: Homero.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.
The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.
French: Homère, Italian: Omero, Portuguese, Spanish: Homero.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 6, 2025
Currently reading all I can of Ancient Greek literature and this was one of my favorites by far. It’s really interesting to read after the Iliad because of the context Helen’s role in the Trojan war lends to the pressure Penelope feels from the suitors. If she goes off with one of them while Odysseus is still alive, she opens their world up to the potential of a second decades long war. It was also intriguing to see the juxtaposition of people’s impression of Penelope. In the same way that some pity Helen for being “taken” to Troy while others condemn her for “willfully abandoning” Menelaus and her family for Troy, Penelope is sometimes praised for holding off the suitors for years, and other times is ridiculed for entertaining the idea of remarrying at all (even though it appears that she is only hosting the suitors so they don’t just sack the palace of Odysseus).
March 24, 2024
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1176038.html
This is the translation of The Odyssey by T.E. Lawrence. The narrative is, of course, very dense, as you would expect from transposing epic poetry into prose, and I rather felt that I should read it again some time over a period of weeks, taking one of the 24 chapters each day in several translations. The central narrative has more of Odysseus' son Telemachus than I had realised - he goes off on an initial quest for his father and then is instrumental in engineering his return to Ithaca. I was also startled by the brutal violence with which Odysseus and Telemachus dispose of Penelope's suitors and the maidservants. Most of the stories I already knew from other reading, but it was interesting to get a sense of the original.
This is the translation of The Odyssey by T.E. Lawrence. The narrative is, of course, very dense, as you would expect from transposing epic poetry into prose, and I rather felt that I should read it again some time over a period of weeks, taking one of the 24 chapters each day in several translations. The central narrative has more of Odysseus' son Telemachus than I had realised - he goes off on an initial quest for his father and then is instrumental in engineering his return to Ithaca. I was also startled by the brutal violence with which Odysseus and Telemachus dispose of Penelope's suitors and the maidservants. Most of the stories I already knew from other reading, but it was interesting to get a sense of the original.
June 4, 2025
k don’t enen know what to say wow
February 18, 2025
Every year I take a deep dive into something unrelated to my primary interest in science and science fiction. This last year I compared line by line seven translations of my favorite classic: The Odyssey. No, this was not an exercise in self-flagellation! I actually enjoy the process of understanding the challenges of translation from ancient texts. Well, the literal word-for-word translation I read online was not exactly enjoyable! But of the six books in my library I can say that the results were extremely varied. Here is an example of the same line from four translations:
Fagles: “Sing to me of the man.”
Fitzgerald: “Sing in me, O Muse, and through me tell the story of the man.”
Mandelbaum: “Muse, tell me of the man of many wiles, who wandered many paths of exile.”
Rees: “Sing, O Goddess, the ruinous wrath of Achilles, Son of Peleus, the terrible curse that brought unnumbered woes upon the Achaeans and hurled to Hades so many heroic souls, leaving their bodies the prey of dogs and carrion birds.”
Here’s my take: Fitzgerald comes closest to the expressive intent while staying true to the concision of the original text. I also like Rees for the wonderful, oracular fluidity it renders to the text. It is also the most liberal of all in its departure from structure, but the benefit is clarity of the narrative while also getting some subtle and helpful cultural background. Rees is perhaps the easiest to follow for the initiate, but I consider Fitzgerald my reference point because it is truer to the structure and density of Homer’s original thought. Of the others I found Robert Fagles circuitous and vague, Richard Lattimore too congested, Mandelbaum changes too much without clarifying the narrative, and worst of all was Emily Watson, which is the only one I actually say to avoid.
The problems of translation are many: first, there are no modern language versions for many of these ancient Greek words, so many translators attempt to tag on background descriptors so the reader will understand context. Just imagine three thousand years from now how puzzled readers would be about a slang term such as “Bad Ass.” Would that mean a diseased butt? Or a recalcitrant mule?! Second, Homer uses aural alterations to reinforce and amplify the sense of action in the text, i.e. numerous “sh” words at regular intervals when talking about the waves, or numerous hard “k” consonants when talking about clashing swords in battle.
As for the story itself, I found it substantially divergent from any of the Hollywood versions I’ve seen. Most of the action scenes that film producers focus on are told here in a forlorn manner as distant memories. The real present-tense action is always with the gods and how Odysseus extols revenge on the usurpers that had overrun his homestead. The narrative style is also much different from any conversation text we hear in films. Homer has characters speak for a whole page, in long eloquent passages, which might end in a question, and then the narrative is passed along to somebody else. Very much the antithesis of our modern sound-bite short attention span society!
Bottom line: I do consider this one of the must-read classics, and I also prefer the Odyssey over The Iliad (see my separate review).
Fagles: “Sing to me of the man.”
Fitzgerald: “Sing in me, O Muse, and through me tell the story of the man.”
Mandelbaum: “Muse, tell me of the man of many wiles, who wandered many paths of exile.”
Rees: “Sing, O Goddess, the ruinous wrath of Achilles, Son of Peleus, the terrible curse that brought unnumbered woes upon the Achaeans and hurled to Hades so many heroic souls, leaving their bodies the prey of dogs and carrion birds.”
Here’s my take: Fitzgerald comes closest to the expressive intent while staying true to the concision of the original text. I also like Rees for the wonderful, oracular fluidity it renders to the text. It is also the most liberal of all in its departure from structure, but the benefit is clarity of the narrative while also getting some subtle and helpful cultural background. Rees is perhaps the easiest to follow for the initiate, but I consider Fitzgerald my reference point because it is truer to the structure and density of Homer’s original thought. Of the others I found Robert Fagles circuitous and vague, Richard Lattimore too congested, Mandelbaum changes too much without clarifying the narrative, and worst of all was Emily Watson, which is the only one I actually say to avoid.
The problems of translation are many: first, there are no modern language versions for many of these ancient Greek words, so many translators attempt to tag on background descriptors so the reader will understand context. Just imagine three thousand years from now how puzzled readers would be about a slang term such as “Bad Ass.” Would that mean a diseased butt? Or a recalcitrant mule?! Second, Homer uses aural alterations to reinforce and amplify the sense of action in the text, i.e. numerous “sh” words at regular intervals when talking about the waves, or numerous hard “k” consonants when talking about clashing swords in battle.
As for the story itself, I found it substantially divergent from any of the Hollywood versions I’ve seen. Most of the action scenes that film producers focus on are told here in a forlorn manner as distant memories. The real present-tense action is always with the gods and how Odysseus extols revenge on the usurpers that had overrun his homestead. The narrative style is also much different from any conversation text we hear in films. Homer has characters speak for a whole page, in long eloquent passages, which might end in a question, and then the narrative is passed along to somebody else. Very much the antithesis of our modern sound-bite short attention span society!
Bottom line: I do consider this one of the must-read classics, and I also prefer the Odyssey over The Iliad (see my separate review).
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews