The Odyssey of Homer

by Richmond Lattimore

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

384 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 1999

About the author

Richmond Lattimore graduated from Dartmouth in 1926 and received an A.B. from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church in 1932. He took his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1934.

He was an American poet and classicist known for his translations of the Greek classics, especially his versions of the Iliad and Odyssey, which are generally considered as among the best English translations available

Reviews

[Logan Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just great. I would read the whole book (poem?) again for the last 40 pages. Odysseus is morally grey at best though.

[Michael Stein]

Book 2 of St. John’s Annapolis Curriculum. Lattimore translation is great as always.

[Samuel Sadler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no scholarly authority to say anything about translators, but I loved this edition and found it easy to teach. It is accessible while maintaining the dignity of high poetry.

[Simon Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This being my first reading of The Odyssey, I sought an accurate, more academic translation and settled on Lattimore’s after some research and reviews that described his work that way.

Odysseus’ epic was an enjoyable read overall, though at times highly repetitive, excessively descriptive, and full of long-winded monologues. The reader has to remember that The Odyssey was originally performed as oral poetry, only written down in ancient Greek some centuries later (or so historians believe). Story and dialogue unfold together like the acts of a play, with the gods serving as playwrights over the drama of the mortal characters.

I particularly liked the swineherd Eumaeus, mostly because of the narrator’s second-person address to him. I was puzzled at first by “You, Eumaeus”– was I, the reader, suddenly a pig farmer? But Homer presents Eumaeus as the moral ideal of Ithaca and so seems to compliment the audience by association (or so is my interpretation).

Now it’s time to watch Christopher Nolan’s adaptation in IMAX, if I can somehow manage to find a good seat before the theatrical run ends.

[Zack Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty amazing read. I couldn't get through it freshman year of college, perhaps because I found the translation stuffy and couldn't read between the lines well.

But on this read, I deeply appreciated many scenes of emotion and awe. This story is over 2000 years old, and yet so much of it holds true and makes sense.

There's one part near the end when a small group of people is, I feel, unfairly slaughtered, but I didn't write The Odyssey and can't change it.

But I'm almost certain that almost every revenge movie is indebted to The Odyssey.

[hannah magner · Rating 2 out of 5]

there are some books that we should leave in the past!