The Odyssey: A New Translation by Daniel Mendelsohn

by Homer, Daniel Mendelsohn - translator

Brought to you by Penguin.


A magnificent new translation of the Odyssey by best-selling author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn

Setting aside the streamlining, modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic’s formal qualities – meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance – and in so doing restores to Homer’s master work its archaic grandeur. His expansive six-beat line, far closer to the original than that of other recent translations, allows him to capture each of Homer’s verses line for line, without sacrificing the amplitude and shadings of the original.

The result is the richest, most precise, and most musical Odyssey in English, one that fully conveys its oral poetics while bringing to vivid life the gripping adventure, profound human insight and powerful themes that make Homer’s work resonate some twenty-eight centuries after its composition. Supported by an extensive introduction and the fullest notes and commentary currently available, Mendelsohn’s Odyssey is poised to become the authoritative English-language version of this magnificent, endlessly enjoyable masterpiece.


'This may be the best translation of The Odyssey yet. Daniel Mendelsohn’s rendering of Homer’s text is both highly readable and faithful to the original metre. It’s impressive, thrilling stuff... a sonorous new translation' - Edith Hall, The Telegraph

With his Odyssey, best-selling author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn has created a momentous new work, hailed by classicists and poets alike – a translation to stand with those of E. V. Rieu and Robert Fagles.

Daniel Mendelsohn 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Genres: Classics, Fiction

Audible Audio

Published April 24, 2025

About the author

Homer (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.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda crazy that somebody actually had the balls to ask “what if ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’ was set in Ancient Greece?”

[Sue Miz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the five translations I've read, this has got to be the best
Mendelsohn combines the majestic wording with easy-to read structure making his version accessible to all
Though he did his work in verse, he does not ommit descriptions like other translators do in order to maintain fluency
Comparing his work with the Old Greek Odyssey, the book is very true to the grand epic ballad.

[AZ BOOKS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This translation was a delight to read. The introduction, the author's notes, and comments were immensely helpful in understanding the text.

Found these Berkley videos which uses Mendelsohn's translation informative;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iypuy...

[Matthew Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping translation of The Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn. This is my first time reading it all the way through (or rather listening to it), so I have no other translation to compare it to. I appreciated the way that his version immerses you in this strange world with its poetry, which is familiar yet in many ways alien to modern sensibilities, as are the social conventions. The middle chapters, in particular, which recount Odysseus’ encounters with fantastical creatures such as Scylla, the Sirens and the Cyclops are so well read - Mendelsohn has you on the edge of your seat. Once Odysseus returns to Ithaca there is a lot of testing of loyalties, disguises and skullduggery that takes some time to play out, but I still found it very engaging. Because the work was likely recounted by bards there are a lot of repeated phrases that must have been familiar to listeners at the time of The Odyssey’s creation, and Mendelsohn doesn’t make an attempt to cut them out in favor of brevity. I actually appreciate that as it helps immerse you into the experience. This is one of those works that actually may be best enjoyed as an audio book, as that is how it was originally conveyed.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope it’s not sacrilegious to give this 3000 year old book 3 stars but even with listening as an audiobook, my modern brain got tired of the repetition of epithets. I will say, I loved seeing the origins of my og crush Percy Jackson in Odysseus’ adventures 🙂‍↕️
I did enjoy learning how the Romans thought of Odysseus in later times given the values of their culture as opposed to the Ancient Greeks. I also wish those 4 other epics survived and how different (or not so much) our western canon would’ve been if they did.

[Anderson Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first rereading since high school. I was inspired to revisit the poem for two ‘reasons.’ Obviously, there is the movie… But this was genuinely not a motivating reason, only an additional fact. What really pushed me to go back is the attention paid to the characters in The Odyssey by Bernard Williams in his book ‘Shame and Necessity,’ which I am currently reading with a group.

Williams’s argument is complicated and I won’t rehearse it here, although I likely will with my review of the book once finished. As for Homer, there are three things that stood out to me. What struck me most upon this reading were the conceptions of masculinity, of all things. The sensitivity, care, and deep breadth of emotions that Odysseus experiences and welcomes across his trials is remarkable. This is a general remark and so I leave it at that.

Second, by the end of the poem I realized that Odysseus is a sort of faultless hero. There are, on my account, just two instances of what we might identify as vice throughout the journey home (more if one counts the failed hecatombs that caused the initial troubles). The first fault is his failure to heed his troops suggestion to steal the sheep from the cyclops, directly resulting in the cadre’s capture. But this isn’t even a fault of his character, just a mistake. Odysseus is, in fact, attempting to act virtuously. Immediately following their escape, however, we catch a glimpse of Odysseus’s boastfulness. He mocks the cyclops and berates him in the face of imminent danger to ship and crew while his companions beg him cease. Strange. We never saw or see that side of him again. Besides these events, I can see no place where vice manifests in Odysseus.

The final point I want to raise comes towards the end. It makes some sense as to why Odysseus wants to test the loyalty of staff and servants in his house upon his disguised return. What’s more, he was instructed to do so by Pallas Athena (or was it Circe?). But why on Earth did he, at the end of his trials and with the defeat of his suitors, feel compelled to go out to the fields and test the loyalty of his father who is known across Ithaka to have had no role or business at Odysseus’s house during the suitors’ occupation? The ancient Greek mind may be, as Williams at times suggest, quite impenetrable to us Moderns.

[Richard Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Translation

This is my 5th different translation of the Odyssey and by far, the best I've read. The brilliant classics scholar and essayist is the translator and author of a huge introduction that is replete with insights and eye opening ideas. Daniel Mendelsohn also read the Audible (the best way to read Homer is to listen to him read), with full understanding of the words and poetic metre of the work.

The Odyssey is my favourite story and it will never be surpassed. I recommend listening to DM's Introduction, over two and a half hours long explaining its enduring power. It was one of nine accounts written (poetic, oral first!) about the Trojan War and its aftermath, and forever joined with The Iliad and Homer. Mendelsohn translated it precisely, including its ancient poetic rhythm, which is eye opening. There are some wearingly repetitive phrases, created I think to help reciters remember it (like his words flew like arrows, owl eyed goddess, wine dark sea, etc) but they add to the authenticity of the translation and the world it conjures up. Only a few of the books (9-13) cover the amazing adventures (the sirens, cyclops, Circe, lotus eaters, Hades, etc). Most of the tale is on the return of Odysseus to Ithaca and his reuniting with Penelope and Telemachus. It is a story about loyalty, tenacity, foolishness, identity, and most poignantly human love.

For newcomers, don't be afraid - Mendelsohn's voice is precise and soothing, and the story so compelling, you will see why I love it so, and why this version is excellent in every way.

[Gian Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was, I think, my fourth major reading of the Odyssey in my life.

And I totally fell in love with it anew, thanks to the translation.

Mendelsohn's poetry is refined, smooth, and intense in the way it evokes the ancient places described in the book.

This might well become my favourite version.

I am very biased when it comes to this tale.
The Odyssey, or at the very least its myth, has accompanied me since I was a child, and I feel like I only enjoy it more as an adult.

Homer's tale of homecoming is subtle, modern, enthralling, and yet beautiful at every turn.

The notes here add, to someone who's passionate but certainly not an expert, like myself, further depth, although they are elegantly concise.

There's so much to say, and yet I feel it would amount to nothing.

Just go ahead and see for yourself, with an open heart, why this is one of the founding stones of Western culture at large.

[Eric Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the Daniel Mendelsohn's translation read by the same. In all honesty, I actively listened to maybe half of the book, as the story became kind of background noise as it went on. I really dug the first couple books as the writing and style is so strikingly different from what I'm used to listening to. Obviously the epic poem is among the pinnacle of Greek writings and so well known but if I hear the words "he addressed her with words that flew towards her like arrows", in one form or another, I will fly towards that person or entity like arrows myself. Half the poem seems to be a narrator of what is happening but then the other half is someone describing what had happened to them. It's not a terrible way to write but in a movie I would walk out with that amount of talking, as such that I did to Disclosure Day- the poor man's Snowden.

[William Broad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read the Odyssey before and I am not familiar with classics beyond Stephen Fry's books. I decided to give this a shot after having read Stephen Fry's Troy and found this to be an excellent and readable translation for a modern reader, very clear and vibrant and I appreciate the attention to detail made by the translator as explained in the intro/translators note and chapter notes. I am glad I chose this over the Wilson version which I was unsure of buying after reading the samples sidebyside. As for the story, it is abundantly clear why its popularity endures after more than 2800 years.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose the Mendelsohn translation because it’s the newest and had solid reviews. But I struggled with it. My focus often waned and I reread sections just to remind myself which character was speaking.

About halfway through, I started researching other translations. This is how I heard about the Emily Wilson translation (published nine years ago), which would have been a better option for me. This version seems to be more readable with a better plot flow.

But Wilson also has her share of critics. Maybe I should have gone with the Signet Classic translation that I read decades ago, and found enjoyable.

[Rosie Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mendelsohn’s translation and telling of the Epic is incredible. The scenes and stories described are cinematic and flow so smooth and beautifully.
Unreal story with 10/10 translation. Could never put this book down. I would’ve had it read within two weeks if I weren’t studying or working every minute of the day. I found it particularly helpful with my understanding of background and what’s happening once I read a bit of the basics on the mythology, and read the introduction and notes on each chapter once I finished each chapter.
Loved this book!

[James Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mendelsohn is an amazing translator (I loved his Cavafy). In this version the quirks of oral composition are retained and yet it is very readable. The notes, both introduction and endnotes, are going to be of real value for teaching and for aiding understanding. This is much better than Rieu's prose translation and much fuller than Emily Wilson's.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another tour de force by Mr. Mendelsohn. His books never disappoint. He wrote a book dedicated to his father, Jay. They followed the route Odysseus took on his way home.

It is called An Odyssey, A Father, A Son, And An Epic. It is a fabulous read.

[Neil McKeever · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d like to think my taste in reading has matured since high school. Alas, not with this ancient epic. Still bland and monotonous, and I’m ready for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation this summer!

[Brett Bullard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic story of heroism and the determination to make it home to your loved ones. Great translation and easy to read.

[Dave Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply splendid. My first reading of the poem. I was a bit intimidated in the beginning but once I started it was hard to put down.

[Ann Brogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent in every way