Cliffsnotes the Odyssey

by Stanley P. Baldwin

"The Odyssey" is an epic poem that unfurls the story of Odysseus' triumph over Troy and arduous journey home to reclaim his kingdom. It has the elements of romance and adventure and the psychological development of character thousands of years before Freud. At 2,500 years old, "The Odyssey" is one of the finest books ever written; as poetry, it sets the standard for comparison; and it serves as one of the foundations of the Western world's cultural heritage.

Genres: Classics, Reference, Literature, Nonfiction, Mythology, Philosophy, History

ebook

First published May 1, 1976

About the author

Stanley P. Baldwin (born 1942) is a writer and teacher, currently living in Nebraska. He is a frequent contributor to scholarly series as SparkNotes and CliffsNotes. He wrote about Beowulf and many others in the latter series, and J.R.R. Tolkien in the former.

Reviews

[Will K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used to compare Epic the Musical to the Odyssey. I did NOT remember that Tiresias’ prophesy is the same in both!!! Epic is way more faithful than I realized.

[William Razavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Working with Milch's older edition here:

I wanted to look at this and the older edition of the Iliad and so some of my thoughts are the same for both.
This is strongest in terms of synopses and structure. The commentaries are quite insightful and are a good start for looking at the Odyssey. This volume had a lot of misspellings and typos. (How do you manage to misspell Odyssey in a book about the Odyssey?).
Uses the same intro to Homer as the old Iliad edition and in both cases the Homeric Question material is very dated and the past 50-60 years of scholarship on oral composition and (especially for the Odyssey) folklore has added a lot to what is hinted at here.
Good as a quick reference/refresher for the structure of the epic and has some good questions for analysis.

[Cate]

I did actually read this book. I read it alongside The Odyssey because I got lost a few times. It's a good summary of the book.

[Jill White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and very much what I expected. Helped me with my book.

[Dusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a summary of Homer's great epic, this Cliffs Notes volume is adequate. In fact, when I teach The Odyssey to my ninth graders this year, I will probably share with them the family tree diagram and a few summaries for the chapter we won't be covering in class. But as a "critical analysis" -- which is what the second half of this book calls itself -- it is quite weak. Most versions of the poem come with introductory material (Who wouldn't want to be called upon to introduce The Odyssey?); and those notes are bound to be more thorough and helpful than these are.

[Monika Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cliffs Notes present a clear discussion of the action and thought of The Odyssey so that the student does not have to take notes during class

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good recap of the characters, plot and themes of The Odyssey before reading the actual translation.

[Princess Banana of Bananaland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my bible 4 the English essay thx cliffsnotes