Odysseus: The Greatest Hero of Them All

Marvellous Myths #1

by Tony Robinson, Richard Curtis

The most powerful men in the world were all together in a circle in the middle of the room. Drawing their daggers, they cut their right hands and, above the pile of gold, swore Odysseus’ vow: Helen could marry whom she liked, and the Princes would defend them both…. Everyone’s heard of the wooden horse of Troy, and of the beauty of Helen. Well this is the story as Odysseus saw it, from his boyhood in Ithaca to his participation in the bloody Trojan war itself.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Audiobook, Fantasy

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Sir Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, amateur historian, TV presenter, author and political activist. He is known for playing "Baldrick" in the BBC television series Blackadder and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History.

Reviews

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite possibly my favourite retelling of The Iliad.

[James Lark]

Read this to my class of 10 and 11 year olds, they couldn't get enough of it. A very colourful and entertaining retelling.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable telling of the story, pretty simplified, but all the main characters and events are covered, from young Odysseus first going to Sparta to see if he has a chance at marrying Helen (he doesn't), to stopping macho brawls over who will and signing them all up for a promise that ends up with the Greek Army outside Troy.

It's aimed for kids, hence the general simplified story, though there are still some moments of disquiet and horror, hinting at how dark and violent a story it is. Tony Robinson is a great storyteller. It's engaging and well done, the only sour note for me is how Helen is portrayed as pretty stupid and oblivious and the comments on how she gets fat eating lots of sweets and chocolate. Since a pretty pointless character assassination.

Achilles too gets treated as fairly stupid and brainless. It was interesting to read from an outside perspective while having "Song of Achilles" in my mind. All the men are generally selfish, greedy, nasty people who preside over a 10 year siege solely caused by macho ego. The smartest person clearly in the whole story is Penelope, the wife of Odysseus who has a brief appearance at the beginning, before being left on Ithica for those 10 years.

That of course, is another story.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it's Blackadder Goes Fourth but the Iliad. At one point Odysseus says "we'll be home by Christmas" which makes the setting really interesting, especially when a Homeric Margaret Thatcher attempts to prove the Trojan Horse is a trap.

90s period typical language, bit of fat shaming, not entirely sure if meant for 9-12 or early teens.

[Colin Barrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remembered loving the Tony Robinson "Jackanory" episodes of "Odysseus" back in the 80s. This audiobook did not disappoint

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook by Tony Robinson himself and it's absolutely wonderful.