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The Odyssey
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About the Author

HOMER is thought to have lived c.750-700 BC in Ionia and is believed to be the author of the earliest works of Western Literature- The Odyssey and The Iliad.

E. V. RIEU was a celebrated translator from Latin and Greek, and editor of Penguin Classics from 1944-64. His son, D. C. H. RIEU, has revised his work.

PETER JONES is former lecturer in Classics at Newcastle. He co-founded the 'Friends of Classics' society and is the editor of their journal and a columnist for The Spectator.

Reviews

“[Robert Fitzgerald’s translation is] a masterpiece . . . An Odyssey worthy of the original.” –The Nation

“[Fitzgerald’s Odyssey and Iliad] open up once more the unique greatness of Homer’s art at the level above the formula; yet at the same time they do not neglect the brilliant texture of Homeric verse at the level of the line and the phrase.” –The Yale Review

“[In] Robert Fitzgerald’s translation . . . there is no anxious straining after mighty effects, but rather a constant readiness for what the occasion demands, a kind of Odyssean adequacy to the task in hand, and this line-by-line vigilance builds up into a completely credible imagined world.”
–from the Introduction by Seamus Heaney

There is no better way to encounter an epic that derives from an oral tradition than to hear it narrated by a fine Shakespearean actor. This requires a great translation, and this shining new verse translation by Robert Fagles‘who also translated The Iliad (Audio Reviews, LJ 7/92)‘has been rightly hailed as a masterpiece. It captures, in swift rhythms and flawless utterance, the tone, the temper, the very life of Homer's antic world without once sounding antiquated. The tale of Odysseus's long-awaited return from the Trojan Wars is majestically realized by Ian McKellan (seen most recently on film in Cold Comfort Farm and Richard III). Resisting every temptation to ham Homer's bardic lines, the sonorous-voiced McKellan hits home with truthful simplicity throughout, as if he were spinning out a heartfelt story during a long night in a pub. A fine introduction by Bernard Knox is included, but Penguin has reached new heights in bad presentation values, insuring instant destruction of the plastic containers within, while the music sounds like a petrified chicken on an infant's keyboard. But the words, like Homer's gods, are deathless. What more can a listener ask for? Highly recommended for all collections.‘Peter Josyph, New York

Robert Fagles's 1990 translation of The Iliad was highly praised; here, he moves to The Odyssey. As in the previous work, he adroitly mixes contemporary language with the driving rhythms of the original. The first line reads: "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." Hellenic scholar Bernard Knox contributes extensive introductory commentary, providing both historical and literary perspective. Notes, a pronouncing glossary, genealogies, a bibliography and maps of Homer's world are included.

"[Robert Fitzgerald's translation is] a masterpiece . . . An Odyssey worthy of the original." -The Nation

"[Fitzgerald's Odyssey and Iliad] open up once more the unique greatness of Homer's art at the level above the formula; yet at the same time they do not neglect the brilliant texture of Homeric verse at the level of the line and the phrase." -The Yale Review

"[In] Robert Fitzgerald's translation . . . there is no anxious straining after mighty effects, but rather a constant readiness for what the occasion demands, a kind of Odyssean adequacy to the task in hand, and this line-by-line vigilance builds up into a completely credible imagined world."
-from the Introduction by Seamus Heaney

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