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The Odyssey
by
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.
If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wil ...more
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.
If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wil ...more
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Paperback, 541 pages
Published
November 30th 2006
by Penguin Classics
(first published -800)
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"Okay, so here's what happened. I went out after work with the guys, we went to a perfectly nice bar, this chick was hitting on me but I totally brushed her off. Anyway we ended up getting pretty wrecked, and we might have smoked something in the bathroom, I'm not totally clear on that part, and then this gigantic one-eyed bouncer kicked us out so we somehow ended up at a strip club. The guys were total pigs but not me, seriously, that's not glitter on my neck. And then we totally drove right by
...more

Quite possibly one of my favourite books!
It was this novel that ignited my love for Greek and Roman mythology and antiquity - leading me to choose a degree in Classical Civilisations.
I always look back on The Odyssey with fondness - I love all the monsters he faces and the gods who involve themselves with Odysseus' trials as he makes his way home after the Trojan War.
LOVE LOVE LOVE. ...more
It was this novel that ignited my love for Greek and Roman mythology and antiquity - leading me to choose a degree in Classical Civilisations.
I always look back on The Odyssey with fondness - I love all the monsters he faces and the gods who involve themselves with Odysseus' trials as he makes his way home after the Trojan War.
LOVE LOVE LOVE. ...more

So my first “non-school related" experience with Homer’s classic tale, and my most powerful impression, beyond the overall splendor of the story, was...HOLY SHIT SNACKS these Greeks were a violent bunch. Case in point:
...they hauled him out through the doorway into the court,...more
lopped his nose and ears with a ruthless knife,
tore his genitals out for the dogs to eat raw
and in manic fury hacked off hands and feet.
then once they’d washed their own hands and feet
they went inside again to join o

Οδύσσεια = The Odyssey, Homer
The Odyssey begins after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliad), and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war because he angered the god Poseidon.
Odysseus' son Telemachus is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father's house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelope and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to persuade Penelope to marry one of them, all the while reveling in Odysseus' palace ...more
The Odyssey begins after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliad), and Odysseus has still not returned home from the war because he angered the god Poseidon.
Odysseus' son Telemachus is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father's house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelope and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to persuade Penelope to marry one of them, all the while reveling in Odysseus' palace ...more

I first read Homer in the 19th-century French translation by Leconte de Lisle — the equivalent, say, of the 18th-century translation into English by Alexander Pope: a pompous, archaic and exhausting bore of a book. I kept my chin up and, after a while, tried another inflated Frenchman: the 1955 translation by the curly-moustached Victor Bérard (in the prestigious Pléiade edition, with an odd arrangement of chapters). A bit less depraved than the Parnassian poet, but all in all (alack!) not much
...more

“It is generally understood that a modern-day book may honorably be based upon an older one, especially since, as Dr. Johnson observed, no man likes owing anything to his contemporaries. The repeated but irrelevant points of congruence between Joyce's Ulysses and Homer's Odyssey continue to attract (though I shall never understand why) the dazzled admiration of critics.” The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim by Jorge Luis Borges.
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done ...more
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done ...more


I have read The Odyssey three times. The first was not really a read but more of a listen in the true oral tradition. During embroidery class one of us, young girls on the verge of entering the teens, would read a passage while the rest were all busy with our eyes and fingers, our needles and threads. All learning to be future Penelopes: crafty with their crafts, cultivated, patient and loyal. And all wives.
The second read was already as an adult. That time I let myself be led by the adventures ...more


Ever since I first read Homer’s epic describing the adventures of Odysseus back in my school days, three of those adventures fired my imagination: The Lotus Eaters, The Cyclops and the Sirens, most especially the Sirens. I just did revisit these sections of this Greek epic and my imagination was set aflame yet again. How much, you ask? Here is my microfiction as a tribute to the great poet:
THE SIRENS
This happened back in those days when I was a member of an experimental performing-arts troupe d ...more

"I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman!"
—Homer
(Simpson)
Following James Joyce's lead, I used Homer’s heroic story as inspiration for a novel-in-progress.
But how can I, a mere mortal, do justice to the most famous epic poem ever written? An encounter with a work of this magnitude should be shared, rather than reviewed.
Homer is the great, great, great (recurring) grand-daddy of modern literature and this colossus is as immortal as the gods within it. ...more
—Homer
(Simpson)
Following James Joyce's lead, I used Homer’s heroic story as inspiration for a novel-in-progress.
But how can I, a mere mortal, do justice to the most famous epic poem ever written? An encounter with a work of this magnitude should be shared, rather than reviewed.
Homer is the great, great, great (recurring) grand-daddy of modern literature and this colossus is as immortal as the gods within it. ...more

The first line in Emily Wilson’s new translation of the Odyssey, the first by a woman scholar, is “Tell me about a complicated man.” In an article by Wyatt Mason in the NYT late last year, Wilson tells us
“I could’ve said, ‘Tell me about a straying husband.’ And that’s a viable translation. That’s one of the things [the original language] says…[But] I want to be super responsible about my relationship to the Greek text. I want to be saying, after multiple different revisions: This is the best I...more

It's impossible not to smile when you start reading such a classic and, after only the first few pages, you realize and completely understand why it's regarded as one of the most important works in literature. I'm always a little anxious when I tackle such important and renowned books for being afraid of not comprehending or loving them - War and Peace and Don Quixote, for example - as they seem to deserve. Not that I'm obligated to like them, but I always feel such buzz comes for a reason and I
...more

What can I say about this book that hasn't been said already? I'm sure that the influence and importance of it has been discussed to death already, so I won't even get started on that.
My reading experience was surprisingly pleasant: I didn't expect to get so invested! I found the language a bit hard at first, but once I got used to it (which didn't take all too long), I was able to fully enjoy the story. I'm glad that I finally read this classic piece of work, and it's definitely understandable ...more
My reading experience was surprisingly pleasant: I didn't expect to get so invested! I found the language a bit hard at first, but once I got used to it (which didn't take all too long), I was able to fully enjoy the story. I'm glad that I finally read this classic piece of work, and it's definitely understandable ...more

The founding novel of literature is the one that will inspire all future narratives. We know the story of Ulysses; we have read a few episodes seen a film but read the whole work, with these long chapters, the Homeric epithets and the lengthy descriptions of the marine world with its monsters and demons. One has the impression of attending a closed session on the sea, and yet, Ulysses only berths to better take to the sea as if the mainland was not only forbidden to him but also harmful as if hi
...more

Feb 11, 2018
Το Άθχημο γατί του θενιόρ Γκουαναμίρου
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
Ithaka By C ...more
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
Ithaka By C ...more

I don't think the world (or the Goodreads user base) will gain much by my "reviewing" The Odyssey. Everything that needs to be said about this wonderful epic has been said throughout the ages—and that again and again—by people who were and are much more capable than me.
All there's left for me to say is that I LOVED it, and I didn't expect to. The Odyssey was a much quicker, more thrilling and fun read than I could've ever imagined. With his translation, Fagles ignited my love for Ancient texts, ...more
All there's left for me to say is that I LOVED it, and I didn't expect to. The Odyssey was a much quicker, more thrilling and fun read than I could've ever imagined. With his translation, Fagles ignited my love for Ancient texts, ...more

Jul 06, 2018
Barry Pierce
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2018,
ancient
I mean, it's no Ulysses.
...more

To this day, the most interesting research project that I’ve ever done was the very first. It was on the Homeric Question.
I was a sophomore in college—a student with (unfortunate) literary ambitions who had just decided to major in anthropology. By this point, I had at least tacitly decided that I wanted to be a professor. In my future lay the vast and unexplored ocean of academia. What was the safest vessel to travel into that forbidden wine-dark sea? Research.
I signed up for a reading project ...more
I was a sophomore in college—a student with (unfortunate) literary ambitions who had just decided to major in anthropology. By this point, I had at least tacitly decided that I wanted to be a professor. In my future lay the vast and unexplored ocean of academia. What was the safest vessel to travel into that forbidden wine-dark sea? Research.
I signed up for a reading project ...more

Audiobook read by Claire Danes ..
I finished this Audiobook weeks ago - but the physical book - I’m throwing in the towel. I own the physical book - but I just couldn’t get myself to stay with it.
I liked listening to Claire Danes ... I was fully engaged at the time ...(she was helpful for me staying interested )...but I’m already forgetting everything...
I need to borrow another person’s brain!
I finished this Audiobook weeks ago - but the physical book - I’m throwing in the towel. I own the physical book - but I just couldn’t get myself to stay with it.
I liked listening to Claire Danes ... I was fully engaged at the time ...(she was helpful for me staying interested )...but I’m already forgetting everything...
I need to borrow another person’s brain!

It's funny how many people feel intimidated by this book. Sure, it's thousands of years old, and certainly Greek culture has some peculiarities, but the book is remarkably, sometimes surprisingly modern, and most translations show the straightforward simplicity of the story.
Perhaps like The Seventh Seal, The Odyssey has gotten a reputation for being difficult because it has been embraced by intellectuals and worse, wanna-be intellectuals. But like Bergman's classic film, The Odyssey is focused o ...more
Perhaps like The Seventh Seal, The Odyssey has gotten a reputation for being difficult because it has been embraced by intellectuals and worse, wanna-be intellectuals. But like Bergman's classic film, The Odyssey is focused o ...more

Sep 23, 2011
Riku Sayuj
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Riku by:
Ian "Marvin" Graye
Shelves:
classics,
history-civilizations,
epic-stuff,
great-books-quest,
religion,
favorites,
translated,
r-r-rs,
spiritual,
epics
I started this as I was told it is essential reading if I ever want to give a shot at reading Ulysses. I was a bit apprehensive and spent a long time deciding on which translation to choose. Finally it was Stephen's review that convinced me to go for the Robert Fagles' version. I have no way of judging how good a decision that was.
This translation, by Robert Fagles, is of the Greek text edited by David Monro and Thomas Allen, first published in 1908 by the Oxford University Press. This two-volu...more

Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to The Odyssey, published around 800 BC and written by Homer. I was tasked with reading this epic work as part of an Advanced Placement English course in between my junior and senior years of high school. I loved literature back then as much as I do now, and my reading habits probably grew from everything my teachers encouraged us to read during the summer hiatus and mid-year breaks. We sampled literature from all over the world, and this Greek tome was on ...more
4 out of 5 stars to The Odyssey, published around 800 BC and written by Homer. I was tasked with reading this epic work as part of an Advanced Placement English course in between my junior and senior years of high school. I loved literature back then as much as I do now, and my reading habits probably grew from everything my teachers encouraged us to read during the summer hiatus and mid-year breaks. We sampled literature from all over the world, and this Greek tome was on ...more

Jan 15, 2018
Éimhear (A Little Haze)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned-or-preordered
Last year I read Homer's The Iliad and loved the storyline but I was left with a sense that there was something missing from my reading experience. At times the Iliad bored me with its clunky writing style and, at the time, I concluded that this was down to the translation that read.
So this year I decided to read two versions of Homer's classic epic poem The Odyssey simultaneously to decide if I would have a different reaction to the different translations of the same texts.
And I 100% did!
I ch ...more
So this year I decided to read two versions of Homer's classic epic poem The Odyssey simultaneously to decide if I would have a different reaction to the different translations of the same texts.
And I 100% did!
I ch ...more

Trojan War is ended and the Greeks are returning home with victory and their loot. But the homecoming is not so easy, for they have to struggle with their fate and the wrath of the Olympian gods they incurred. This is greater so for Odysseus, the greek warrior from Ithaca who played a key role in the Trojan War. His fate assures his return but his sudden incurring the wrath of Poseidon (the sea god) makes that returning almost perilous. Odysseus faces many adventures on his journey home which te
...more

Homer Therapy 102
“By hook or by crook, this peril too shall be something we remember.”
During covid lockdown, my husband and I decided to study Ancient Greece. Each night after dinner, we listened to a half an hour lecture or read from a classic text. It’s become a habit or rather a household ritual in which even our dog partakes. (She has a chair she sits in while we listen.) We studied history, philosophy, mythology, and when omicron threatened, we decided to re-read Homer. It has been magical, ...more
“By hook or by crook, this peril too shall be something we remember.”
During covid lockdown, my husband and I decided to study Ancient Greece. Each night after dinner, we listened to a half an hour lecture or read from a classic text. It’s become a habit or rather a household ritual in which even our dog partakes. (She has a chair she sits in while we listen.) We studied history, philosophy, mythology, and when omicron threatened, we decided to re-read Homer. It has been magical, ...more
![[P]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1486240560p2/40516522.jpg)
My parents split when I was very young. The arrangement they made between them was that my brother and I would spend the weekends with our father, but would live, during the week, with my mother. One winter, when I was ten years old, it started to snow heavily and gave no indication of stopping any time soon. It was a Sunday morning and my brother and I were due to leave dad’s and return to what, for us, was home. The snow, however, had other ideas.
To go home we had to catch two buses. The first ...more
To go home we had to catch two buses. The first ...more

Where do you start with a book such as this? An epic tale that has been around for almost three thousand years. I have no idea. What I do know is that I read it and loved it. I had little foreknowledge of the story and I haven't looked into the meanings or history too deeply. Instead I've tried to appreciate the story on it's own merits, getting swept away like Odysseus on the sea. There were quiet contemplative events and dramatic battles, personal struggles and wider societal issues. Gods and
...more

See article in The New York Times Magazine Section, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/ma...
The Paris Review has excerpts: https://www.theparisreview.org/poetry... ...more
The Paris Review has excerpts: https://www.theparisreview.org/poetry... ...more

I first read extracts of the Odyssey in junior high and high school and some years later purchased the highly acclaimed Fitzgerald translation. It is a masterpiece that brings out the strengths of this iconic story of the voyage of Ulysses from the fall of Troy back to his native Ithaca and his beloved and besieged Penelope. The story is highly readable and full of adventure and misadventure, monsters and heroes and ultimately a triumphant voyage home. Yes, it is very masculine in perspective so
...more

I immensely enjoyed reading The Iliad, and since everyone said that The Odyssey is even better, I was expecting to love it. That didn't happen. I liked The Odyssey, but I found it to be a lot less compelling than The Iliad, both narratively and thematically. This is strange, I usually prefer adventure tales to war stories, but The Odyssey didn't have the grandeur, the atmosphere of despair, the philosophical undertones, or even the literary beauty of The Iliad.
The Odyssey reads almost like a lo ...more
The Odyssey reads almost like a lo ...more

I shelved this as "classic newly-read" only because I don't think I ever read a full version in verse. Parts in prose. And B-movies starring either Kirk Douglas or Anthony Quinn or Charlton Heston as the toga-clad avenger.
Like butter, this translation of Fagles'. Loved how smooth it read. And the repeating tropes modifying various nouns: "sparkling-eyed Athena," "bright-eyed goddess," "Dawn with her rose-red fingers," "wine-dark sea," "Odysseus, master of craft," etc.
What threw me was how fast t ...more
Like butter, this translation of Fagles'. Loved how smooth it read. And the repeating tropes modifying various nouns: "sparkling-eyed Athena," "bright-eyed goddess," "Dawn with her rose-red fingers," "wine-dark sea," "Odysseus, master of craft," etc.
What threw me was how fast t ...more
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Goodreads Librari...: Potential alternate cover issue? | 1 | 3 | Jun 25, 2022 05:45AM | |
Colosseum. Sfide ...: Gdl Maggio: Odissea di Omero | 11 | 16 | May 18, 2022 12:23AM | |
Well-Educated Min...: The Odyssey | 1 | 6 | Dec 15, 2021 08:47PM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Book info update | 4 | 69 | Aug 24, 2021 07:23PM | |
Goodreads Librari...: Please add missing page number | 2 | 6 | Jul 13, 2021 09:23AM |
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In the Western classical tradition, Homer (Greek: Ὅμηρος) is considered the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.
When he lived is unknown. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, ...more
When he lived is unknown. Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, ...more
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“Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.”
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