The Odyssey of Homer

by Barbara Leonie Picard (Adapter), Joan Kiddell-Monroe (Illustrator), Homer (Creator)

This is a pre-ISBN book.

In The Odyssey Homer tells the story of Odysseus, the wily and courageous king of Ithaca, and of his long and adventurous journey home after the Greeks had sacked Troy and the Trojan War was over. Although this war had lasted for ten years Odysseus was not destined to see his home for many years after that. His son Telemachus, that he had left as a tiny baby, had grown to manhood and his wife Penelope was being pestered by suitors for her hand in marriage, who, since they were sure that Odysseus was dead, filled the palace with their clamour and revelry. Telemachus and Penelope did not believe that Odysseus was dead, and Telemachus set out to discover what he could about his father. Meanwhile Odysseus encountered all kinds of dangers from monsters, sorceresses, storms and whirlpools, and even ventured into the land of Hades before he finally reached the shores of Ithaca.

Barbara Leonie Picard's version of The Odyssey is told with skill and dignity, and is matched by Joan Kiddell-Monroe's beautiful illustrations.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Poetry, Mythology, Teen, Literature, Fantasy

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Barbara Leonie Picard's first book was published in 1949, and was followed by over twenty more, all of which received praise for the mature and thought-provoking fare they offered young readers. She is well-known for her re-tellings of Homer, Gilgamesh, and ancient myths for young readers.

Reviews

[Bernie4444]

“I long to be homeward bound,” Simon and Garfunkel

The Trojan War is over, and one of our hero kings is lost. His son (Telemachus) travels to find any information about his father’s fate. His wife (Penelope) must cunningly hold off suitors who are eating them out of house and home.

If he ever makes it home, Odysseus will have to detect those servants loyal from those who are not. One absent king against rows of suitors; how will he give them their just desserts? We look to Bright-Eyed Pallas Athena to help prophecy come true.

Interestingly, all the tales of monsters and gods on the sea voyage were told by Odysseus. Notice that no one else survives to tell the tale. Therefore, we have to rely on Odysseus’s word.

Many movies took sections of The Odyssey and expanded them into interesting stories in their own right.

Not just the story but also how it is told will keep you up late at night reading.

It is a tear-jerker when Odysseus returns, 20 years later, and the only one to recognize him is Argos, his faithful dog, who lived long enough to see him. Upon seeing his master return home, Argos dies.

You will, of course, want to buy the various translations to see the differences in reading style and content.

[Farah Mendlesohn]

Someone reprint this!

Spurred on by Nolan, I had just failed with two poetry translations of The Odyssey, because I am just not captured by poetry. I was in the second hand bookshop of the Birmingham Back to Backs Museum (do look it up!), turned a corner and this was right in front of me. As I adore Picard's historicals I bought it.

Picard manages poetic and metrical language presented as prose. I enjoyed this very much indeed.

[Laila]

The part focusing on Telemachus in the middle was a bit boring, but the beginning and the end were great!

[anjeli]

Boring compared to the Iliad haha

[Holli]

Always an adventure!

[Jillianne Tower]

Very interesting

[Ding ding chan]

I put it on spoiler because I will tell you this I absolutely hate it

[Dominic Menter]

It's a simplified translation but still was very good. Only book I've ever read in a day

[Lauren]

Hm. On the one hand, it's not really fair to judge ancient stories by modern standards. But on the other hand, it actually is kinda fair, dammit. Odysseus, our hero, is essentially a giant gary-stu that everyone is in love with, and if you don't like him you can just fuck right off (quickly, or you will probably end up dead, just fyi). He can do no wrong, his son can do no wrong, his poor wife that is stuck in her house for 20 years thanks to shitty ancient greek patriarchal society (and because grieving, apparently) can do no wrong, and while these are standard myth characterisations, it's just so tiresome and laughable. It does make for a great window into ancient greek culture, however. Particularly all that hospitality stuff, where beggars can just roll up at the King's dining table and take a seat.
There were lots of little things that I genuinely enjoyed, like the characters of Circe and Calypso, and Odysseus's dog (;_;), and Penelope offering up some sick burns to the suitors, but ultimately The Odyssey is just a book I read for accomplishment's sake, and now I'm afraid I don't have any incentive to come back to it.

[Hector Ramirez]

The Odyssey by Homer is an exciting story that tells about Odysseus and his endless journey trying to reach home.

The book starts at the end of the Trojan war. The victorious Greeks begin their journey back home but one of those Greeks (Odysseus) is not so lucky. After ripping Polyphemus' eye, he prays to Poseidon to make sure Odysseus never returns home and if he does some how everyone won't know who he is. After many obstacles, he returns home only to find that nobody knows who he is. With the help of the gods, he is able to rule Ithaca once again in peace.

I totally recommend this book to those who like Greek stories. The book "The Odyssey" is probably in my opinion better then the Iliad. The book captures the amazing adventures of Odysseus as he tries to make it home to Ithaca.

[Heather]

As usual, Oxford children's editions prove their superiority. The writing is at a high enough level to stretch upper elementary readers and immerse them in wondrous words, but it is also clear enough for them to understand. Very little is omitted from the story of Odysseus as Homer presents it. My one quibble is that the order of Homer's narrative has been rearranged to approximate a more chronological order, so the first half of the book is packed with Odysseus' adventures (told in omniscient narrator rather than as Odysseus telling the Phaicians), then the middle feels quite slow as we pick up the story of Telemachus, and finally things sort of get rolling again toward the end with the actions on Ithaca. Overall, though, an excellent edition for those not up to a full-on poetic translation.

[Connie]

First foray into The Odyssey for me - does a young adult (actually, written for ages 12-18) narrative version count ? Turns out The Odyssey is "just" a story, not intimidating like I thought it would be. Too many names, but at least now I'm familiar with the themes and setting and can delve into the "real" version without hesitation. Read this to go along with my book club selection for next month, An Odyssey: A Father, a Son and an Epic, by Daniel Mendelsohn, which I highly recommend. Reading Homer's epic (or the soft version, like I read) enhances but is not necessary for enjoying Mendelsohn's book.

[Rachel Worley]

I couldn't find the exact version of The Odyssey that I read (I read the version translated by Richard Lattimore). This is one of my favorite books of Ancient history... very interesting. This book had me wondereing what would happen to Odysseus next and I couldn't wait to read that part where he was reunited with his wife and son. My expectations were more than fulfilled... it had a very exciting and dramatic ending. I definitely want to re-read this one.

[David Ross]

A very easy to read translation. In terms of story structure, it seemed like there was an awful lot more adversity than more modern stories. Odysseus seemed to go from one unfortunate event to the next, only to have another misfortunate event to follow. The character is unflinching and clearly defined in his ways. A very classic hero who would happily kill to enforce his moral code. I really enjoyed it.

[Hector]

I thought that the book has to be one of my favorites. Odysseus is one of those few Greek heroes who managed to still be alive after almost being destroyed by Poseidon. The back had a lot of action from the beginning to the end. I like how Odysseus kills the suitors at the end of story.

[Kaykay]

This is a great retold version! Beautifully written!!! :-)