The Odyssey

by Homer

Hardcover, 541 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 1996 by Viking.

ISBN:: 978-0-670-82162-4

(31 reviews)

The Odyssey (; Greek: Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, Attic Greek: [o.dýs.sej.ja]) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still read by contemporary audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war itself, which lasted ten years, his journey lasts for ten additional years, during which time he encounters many perils and all his crewmates are killed. In his absence, Odysseus is assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must contend with a group of unruly suitors who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage. The Odyssey was originally composed in Homeric Greek in around the 8th or 7th century BCE and, by the mid-6th century BCE, had become part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer's authorship of the poem was not questioned, but contemporary scholarship predominantly assumes that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently, and the stories themselves formed as part of a long oral tradition. Given widespread illiteracy, the poem was performed by an aoidos or rhapsode, and more likely to be heard than read. Crucial themes in the poem include the ideas of nostos (νόστος; "return"), wandering, xenia (ξενία; "guest-friendship"), testing, and omens. Scholars still reflect on the narrative significance of certain groups in the poem, such as women and slaves, who have a more prominent role in the epic than in many other works of ancient literature. This focus is especially remarkable when considered beside the Iliad, which centres the exploits of soldiers and kings during the Trojan War. The Odyssey is regarded as one of the most significant works of the Western canon. The first English translation of the Odyssey was in the 16th century. Adaptations and re-imaginings continue to be produced across a wide variety of mediums. In 2018, when BBC Culture polled experts around the world to find literature's most enduring narrative, the Odyssey topped the list.

195 editions

Vasilis reviewed The Odyssey of Homer by Homer

Review of 'The Odyssey of Homer' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This translation of the book reads like a novel, not a poem: It’s the first time I’ve been able to read poetry without forgetting each word the moment I read it.
This is in large part thanks to the kind of language Emily Wilson uses. In her introduction she explains that other translations often use some sort of old fanshioned English. Which makes reading the book unnecessarily complicated. The story itself is very old, filled with customs and ideas that are hard to understand for a modern western person like myself, there is no need to make it even harder by using some sort of English that people spoke 50 years ago.
Another reason I think this book reads so well is because Emily Wilson is a woman. She explains in her introduction that this is definitely of influence on the end result. While it is impossible to turn the Odyssey into a feminist manifesto — it will forever be a barbaric tale of a horrible brute — it is definitely possible to choose more positive descriptions of the women in the book when in doubt.
I’m very happy that I kept falling asleep during all my previous attempts to read the Odyssey, otherwise I wouldn’t have read this great translation by Emily Wilson. And I wouldn’t have read the introduction which is an excellent lecture about how Homer and the Odyssey were perceived throughout the centuries, and which places the story in a modern day western context. A true eye opener.