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    The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation
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    The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation
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    The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation
    Ebook676 pages9 hours

    The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation

    By Homer, D. S. Carne-Ross and Robert Fitzgerald

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's Odyssey is the best and best-loved modern translation of the greatest of all epic poems.

    Since 1961, this Odyssey has sold more than two million copies, and it is the standard translation for three generations of students and poets. Farrar, Straus and Giroux is delighted to publish a new edition of this classic work. Fitzgerald's supple verse is ideally suited to the story of Odysseus' long journey back to his wife and home after the Trojan War. Homer's tale of love, adventure, food and drink, sensual pleasure, and mortal danger reaches the English-language reader in all its glory.

    Of the many translations published since World War II, only Fitzgerald's has won admiration as a great poem in English. The noted classicist D. S. Carne-Ross explains the many aspects of its artistry in his Introduction, written especially for this new edition.

    Winner of the Bollingen Prize

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateNov 15, 1998
    ISBN9781466801479
    Author

    Homer

    The identity of the composer of the Odyssey and the Iliad is a matter of some speculation. The ancients believed it was a bard called Homer, although they disagreed about biographical details. It was commonly thought that he lived on Chios, an island off the west coast of Turkey, some time between 1100 and 700 BC, probably closer to the latter. Traditionally portrayed as blind, he is said to have composed the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Homeric Hymns, a series of choral addresses to the gods.

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    Reviews for The Odyssey

    4.5/5

    202 ratings130 reviews

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    • 4/5
      My first foray into ancient Greek myth and I loved it. This translation is very accessible and immersed me into Odysseus' journey of trials and tribulations. Loved it!
    • 3/5
      A must read
    • 4/5
      Opmerkelijke, niet-chronologische structuur. Ook minder tragedisch-heroïsch dan Ilias, meer accent op waarden trouw, vriendeschap. Verschuiving tav Ilias: mensheld speelt hier de hoofdrol; Odysseus doorspartelt alle gevaren dankzij zijn formidabele karakter (groot hart, eerlijk maar ook vurig en wreedaardig), een man voor alle tijden; doorslaggevend: hij gelooft in eigen kunnen. Ook intelligent-listig (soms web van leugens), daarom in de Oudheid eerder als negatieve figuur gezien (corrupt en leugenachtig), pas met Renaissance gerehabiliteerd.Maar Odysseus is wel de enige onbesproken held, alle anderen (inclusief Telemachos en Penelope) worden in een dubieus daglicht gesteld. Tav Ilias komen vrouwen meer op voorgrond (maar niet altijd positief).Geen mythe, maar wel heldenverhaal, epos. De hoofdlijn is grondig vermengd met andere verhalen (dat van de cycloop is bij andere volkeren in 125 versies te vinden). Het centraal thema is de queeste, de zoektocht naar wat verloren is gegaan (vergelijking met Gilgamesj mogelijk: bezoek aan onderwereld, nihilistische visie op dood).
    • 5/5
      It's good to meet classics in person after being distant acquaintances who know one another just well enough to nod in passing. Now I can shake The Odyssey heartily by the hand when I meet it in other stories, hail-well-met. And meet it in other stories I will, this revered grandfather of the revenge story and the travelogue. Besides being a classic, The Odyssey is a fascinating tale in its own right of strange wonders and awful dangers, of the faithful and the faithless, of wrongs committed and retribution meted out. Odysseus, Achaean hero of the Trojan War, has been ten years fighting at Troy and another ten making his way home. Imprisoned by a nymph, shipwrecked, lost, waylaid — Odysseus, beloved of some gods, is hated by others. Meanwhile at home in Ithaca, many have despaired of his coming, including his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, who now suffer at the hands of Penelope's suitors, leading men of the Achaeans who wish to possess her. Odysseus will never return, they say, as they sit in his house eating and drinking up all his wealth. Telemachus is just a young man and cannot prevent their ravages. The situation is indeed desperate, as Penelope, worn out with mourning Odysseus, begins to accept her fate to become another man's wife. Once I got used to it, I loved the repetition of certain phrases and descriptions: "long-tried royal Odysseus," "discreet Telemachus," "heedful Penelope," "clear-eyed Athena," "the gods who hold the open sky," "rosy-fingered dawn," "on the food before them they laid hands," and more. It reminded me that I was hearing a poem (I listened on audiobook) and that it was originally memorized by the bard, not read off the page. The repetition is comforting. It was easy to fall into the rhythm of the story and the archaic language, surrendering to the storyteller's art. I find the interplay between the gods and men so interesting. I don't know if The Odyssey is an accurate picture of ancient Greek theology and I don't want to draw too many conclusions from what was understood even at the time to be mythological. But I had a similar experience listening to The Iliad — the gods are great and powerful and all that, but they are so very involved in human affairs, almost as if they can't bear to be left out... why should Athena care so much whether Odysseus ever gets home? Why is it that human affairs so concern the councils of Olympus? I suppose the simple answer is that these stories were made up by humans and since the thing that interests us most is ourselves, we can't imagine gods who aren't likewise fascinated.I listened to an older translation by George Herbert Palmer and I'm glad I did. My experience of The Iliad was marred by the fact that it was a modernized translation, the latest and greatest supposedly. But all that really means is that it was dumbed-down for lazy listeners, to the point where some of the heroic moments almost became comical in our modern parlance. No thank you! I'm no expert in translation, but this one presented no jarring moments of disconnect between the style and substance, and I thought it fitted the subject matter very well. The reader of this particular audiobook, Norman Dietz, has a low, smooth, calm voice that I quickly learned to like. This is an excellent story that never slackens its pace or lets you stop caring what happens to its hero. Don't be intimidated by its status as a classic — all that means is that it's a good story that has stood the test of time, delighting its hearers both in ancient days and now. I recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Surprisingly, The Odyssey was not a part of my education in any form whether abridged or otherwise. When I set a goal to read more classics this year I decided, what better place to start to than one of the foundations of western literature!First of all, the translation by Robert Squillace is anything but poetic, but served as a good starting point for an Odyssey novice such as myself. The prose format made it easy to read and the endnotes provided necessary background information which was essential for my understanding as I have never had much of a background in Greek or Roman mythology. This story has it all romance, adventure, betrayal, manipulative schemes, and violence in abundance...let's just say, its epic! Odysseus, King of Ithaca, survives the Trojan war only to meet obstacle upon obstacle on his journey home to his faithful wife, Penelope. Along the way he and his men must battle a man eating Cyclops, the charms of Circe who turns Odysseus' men into pigs, the wrath of the Sun god and Poseidon the god of the seas, Calypso who makes Odysseus a prisoner of love and other wizards, sirens, and gods. In all it takes Odysseus 10 years to return to Ithaca only to find that his home has been plundered by suitors seeking his wife's hand in marriage.As a classic, it is easy to see how The Odyssesy affected the creation of such movies/books as: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. The Odyssey certainly deserves its place among classic literature for these reasons and its obvious entertainment value. I would be hard pressed to say that this was my favorite book to read, it did take me nearly 10 months to complete it after all, but it is one that I'm glad I took the time to read just for the background knowledge I acquired. As I read the epic, I found myself alternately amused and irritated with Odysseus who uses cleverness and intelligence to get him out of more than one scrape only to be led into another with his personality flaw of arrogance. The epic shows Odysseus' ability to manipulate his enemies and lead his men, but somehow miss all opportunities to return to his wife, who is forced to deal with the aggressive suitors. Despite the fantastic/mythical nature of the read, the humanness of Odysseus is ultimately the very aspect of the epic, in addition to his classical influence, that makes it worth the time to read. I can only imagine what this epic would be like to hear performed, how entertaining it must have been for its listeners!
    • 5/5
      Infinitely more enjoyable than the Iliad, but slightly different than I remember. I really don't remember the story being so disjointed. Don't get me wrong, I really love the Odyssey, but I would have preferred if it had been more linear (instead of so much of it being told in retrospect).I didn't quite get to that point I often expereince with epic works where I feel as though I've lost a friend, though I will miss the great adventure! I wish more time had been devoted to Odysseus's actual voyage, but I'll take what I can get from such an ancient work.
    • 5/5
      Rated: A-The New Lifetime Reading Plan: Number 3Life as the journey.And thus he spoke among the immortals:"Ah, how quick men are to blame the gods!From us, they say, all their evils come,When they themselves, by their own ridiculous pride,Bring horrors on far beyond anything fateWould ever have done.For a better and a higher gift than this there cannot be, when with accordant aims man and wife have a home. Great grief is it to foes and joy to friends; but they themselves best know its meaning.Our lives are soon over. If one is unfeeling,And cruel in his thoughts, all men call down cursesUpon him while he is alive, and after he's deadThey mock and scorn him. but if one is kind-hearted and generous,Strangers carry his fame throughtout the worldAnd many are they who call that mortal good.
    • 5/5
      A standard text for high school classrooms, the Fitzgerald translation, rewritten in prose form, provides an accessible version of Homer's The Odyssey. Without question, this page-turning adventure acts as a model for storytelling, as Homer likely captured in riveting manner the attention of his local audience wherever he traveled. Set up in media res, the gripping narrative takes readers through the wandering years of Odysseus, a Greek soldier-king, who had fought in the Trojan War. With hubris, the cocky hero manages to enrage Poseidon who punishes the mere mortal through a series of obstacles where he is unable to get back to his homeland of Ithaca to be with his wife and son. Even after reading the classic epic several times, I am always impressed by Homer's use of imagery as illustrated in the passage when Odysseus pokes the eye out of the baby cyclops Polyphemus: "Eyelid and lash were seared; the pierced ball hissed broiling, and the roots popped." Wow! This is enough for any student to lose an appetite before lunch break.
    • 5/5
      I have nothing new to add, of course. Homer sings for our time too- what more is there? Gods and heroes and regular humans all jumbled up together and humanity is unchanged down all the years. This translation is lovely, by turns sonorous and stirring but always compelling.
    • 4/5
      What else could you select while sailing the Med if not a previous voyage across a similar sea? I thought this was going to be a hard read, but it really wasn't. In part, I think, that is because there is a part of knowing the outline of the story and it's elements already. It is such a well known story that you can't really come it it without knowing something of it already. It's not told in real time, that is reserved for Odysseus' son, Telemachus' journey to try and find news of his father and his dealings with his mother's suitors. The tale of Odysseus' journey back form the Trojan wars is told in order, but in retrospect. It's an interesting way of combining the two strands of the tale, the traveller and those left behind. The impact the traveller's absence has on those left behind is well illustrated, and how things are difficult for both sides in that instance - it's not just the traveller that has to endure trials. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this.
    • 5/5
      The tribulations of the wily Odysseus making his way home after the Trojan war to his wife Penelope in Ithaca. An excellent translation for today's reader with a masterly introduction by the classicist Bernard Knox. "So they traded stories, the two ghosts standing there in the House of Death..." As Ted Hughes wrote, "Just the right blend of sophistication and roughness it seems to me."
    • 4/5
      Though most people seem to prefer The Iliad to The Odyssey, I like the latter for its sheer fabulous inventiveness. The story is fairly simple, Odysseus is trying to make his way home to the Greek island of Ithaca after the Trojan war, but he's earned the ire of the god Poseidon so it's not going to be an easy task. Meanwhile, his wife Penelope is beset with a veritable infestation of suitors and she's running out of delaying tactics.The poem divides itself between Odysseus's ordeals (exciting!) and the troubles back at home with his wife and son (not quite so exciting). Some of my favorite parts:- the encounter with a certain cranky monoptic giant with a taste for human flesh- the trip to the underworld and Odysseus's conversations with the recently deceased. (Apparently being dead kind of sucks.)- the Scylla and Charybdis incident, in which a crevice-lurking multi-headed monstrosity and a nasty whirlpool double-team our hero and his ship. What's not to like?- The sirens, Circe and her isle of enchanted pigs, and so on.. All good stuff.PS: I had one small irritation while reading this. Robert Fagles deploys the phrase "dawn with her rose-red fingers" one too many times in this book. He used it quite a bit in The Iliad as well, but The Iliad has a different flow and therefore it doesn't seem quite as conspicuously repetitive. I know it's part of Homer's poetic style, but a bit more variation from the translator would have been appreciated.One last thought: I felt very, very sorry for Odysseus's dog.
    • 4/5
      This was not at all what I expected. I had steeled myself to reading a long flowering epic poem that would be repetitive and impossible to understand. Instead, I found this to be surprisingly readable and even more surprisingly interesting. A few things really helped me on my journey. I was reading and listening to this book using the Fagles translation which is narrated by Ian McKellen - excellent! I also listened in parallel to Elizabeth Vandiver's lectures about The Odyssey. There are only 12 lectures, but she adds so much background to the story that it added the depth and perspective I needed to make this a very enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      I figured it was about time to read this. I wanted to understand the references to Homer and Greek mythology that is littered throughout literature. I was afraid it was going to be difficult to get through the book and it might be a slog, but fortunately it was not. I really enjoyed it, and got into the story. While I slept I even had dreams about Athena messing with me. This is a great translation and I highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      My knowledge of classical literature and mythology is sadly lacking. The main reason I decided to tackle The Odyssey is because I want to read Ulysses and I gather that a passing acquaintance with this work will make that experience more meaningful.Listening to Ian McKellen reading the Robert Fagles' translation made me regret my lack of education in the classics. I have no way of assessing the merits of Fagles' work, but I would love be to be able to read this epic poem in the language in which it was written and not feel that I was missing most of its cultural, social and political context.Given my lack of familiarity with Greek mythology, it was interesting to realise just how much of the story is imbedded in my consciousness, from Penelope unravelling her weaving to put off her suitors, to the story of the Sirens, to the Cyclops. This is but a small indicstion of the importance of this epic to Western history and literature.Overall, I found The Odyssey more interesting for what it represents as a primary source of Western literature than for the characters or the plot. Odysseus is not exactly a hero for modern times: he may be a master tactician and warrior, but he's also a consummate liar, a rapist, a plunderer and a murderer. The other characters don't have a lot going for them either, at least not in contemporary terms. However, in spite of having an instinctive reaction against the Odysseus' behaviour and the horrific violence contained in the text, I still found it compulsive listening. I loved the non-linear structure and the rhythm of the language. In addition. I was fascinated by the involvement of the gods in the affairs of human beings: directing their actions, subverting their plans, punishing them and performing the odd makeover to assist them to achieve their ends.Ian McKellen's narration was - unsurprisingly - excellent. However, the sound quality of the audiobook left a bit to be desired. At times it was blurry and the volume was variable. While I would have benefited from the introduction and endnotes in a good text edition of this work, listening to an epic poem almost certainly written to be read aloud was for me the best way of tackling it. At some point I'd like to read a well annotated edition in order to learn what my ignorance led me to miss.How can I not give five stars to a literary work which is still being read and discussed thousands of years after it was written?
    • 5/5
      After the ten-year Trojan War ends the warriors return to their home lands. Odysseus’ journey is longer than most because he has angered Poseidon. He runs into one obstacle after another as he fights to return to his wife and son. He fights a Cyclops, travels to the land of the dead, narrowly misses the call of the sirens and spends years trapped on Calypso's island. When he finally returns to Ithaca his home is filled with suitors attempting to woo his wife. I first read The Odyssey in high school, rereading it a decade later was a very different experience. This time I paid much more attention to Penelope’s story. She is such an incredible character. Her loyalty and patience is remarkable. Even though her husband has been gone for 20 years she still holds out that he is alive and will return to her. It made me wonder how long someone would wait nowadays. Obviously there were fewer communication options back then, but still a couple decades is a long time to hang on to hope. Penelope is surrounded by suitors and keeps them at bay by telling them she’ll consider them once she finishes what she’s weaving. She weaves all day and then at night she undoes everything she’s woven. Margaret Atwood wrote an interesting novella about her story, The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus.I enjoyed his son Telemachus’ journey. When his father leaves he is only a baby, but he’s grown to become a man in Odysseus’ absence and he longs to find his father. He isn’t sure if he should search for his father or stay and protect his mother, it’s a difficult decision. For me, it’s important that Odysseus is not a god. He is just a mortal man. So many of the stories in Greek literature are about the gods or demigods. Odysseus is neither, he occasionally has help from the gods, like Athena, at other times he is persecuted by the gods, especially Poseidon, but he has none of their powers. He must rely on his intelligence and cunning to outsmart his captors. BOTTOM LINE: An absolute must for classic lovers. It’s also one of the most accessible pieces of Greek literature and a gateway drug into that world. p.s. This time around I listened to the Robert Fagles translation on audio and it was read by the magnificent Ian McKellen. I would highly recommend it!  
    • 5/5


      I never was a reader of classic in fact I had to read the cliff notes version before attempting one. Last year's reading through all those Jane Austen was a pain but weirdly enough this classics is really good. Initially I thought The Odyssey would be hard on me and I was right when I begin the reading with Samuel Butler's translation. I tried using Librivox's audiobook to keep me going but its confusing me since Pallas Athena became Minerva, Zeus became Jove and Odysseus became Ulysses, I end up being so disinterest with the descriptiveness that I turn to Fagles. Fagles saved me.

      There's a huge differences between Fagles (1996), Butler's (1922) and Rieu's (1946) translations. I read through nearly half of Butler's, quarter of Rieu's and all of the Fagles and to be honest, if you saw Fagles version. Get them.

      One of the reason that Fagles is most preferred is that when a professor recommend it, you get it. Other than that, Fagles is said to be closest to the poetic form from the original Ancient Greek and even I notice the poetic elements in the words rather than the excessive descriptive paragraphs of the same thing with Rieu and Butler's. Both translated Odyssey in novel style and most of the free source "The Odyssey" translation came from Butler, it made absolute sense why some people have differences in opinions on this epic.

      Before I began, I actually read this book with the help of Ian McKellan's narration. I know I have been an anti-audiobook thing but I'm not being hypocrite, in fact I was still struggling with the audiobooks but I was absolutely fine with poems (and The Odyssey actually is a series of rhapsodies) since these things are not meant to be read. Its mean to be said out loud and for me, this is quite an exception. But I still have problems concentrating with the listening part because I often fall asleep or space out so thats why I read and listen at the same time.

      With Ian McKellan's (aka Gandalf or Magneto if you don't know who that was) theatric experience, he effectively brought the classic into deathless dramatic epicness. Experiencing "The Odyssey" is nothing if you haven't listen to it being told by a bard who is ironically is who Ian McKellan is and listening to Sir Ian McKellan breathing the soul of Homer into Odyssey is possibly near orgasmic thing that I've ever had to listen to.

      The Odyssey began with a prayer to the Muse as the narrator started giving a short summary of the story. It's mostly centered around the events surrounding the missing hero, Odysseus, King of Ithaca. 20 years since Odysseus went to Troy to fight the war for Helen of Argos (not Helen of Troy!), the hero never went home and everyone including his wife and son accepted that he's died. Years earlier prior to the even in the first book, hundreds of men came to Ithaca to court the King's widow, Queen Penelope as it seems to be a custom for a beautiful young widow to remarry after the death of their husband. But Penelope managed to avoid the remarriage by prolonging the courtship which ends with the suitors overstaying Penelope's palace for years and spend all of the palace's resources on their feasting.

      In the first book, Athena became distraught over the plight of the great hero who is stuck in limbo and the fate of Odysseus's wife and son with their guests terrorizing their home. After she begged Zeus to command Calypso to let Odysseus go from her sensual snare, she disguised herself as Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus, to nudge the young prince to take action against the suitor's menace. With the guidance by the goddess, Telemachus finally set off to the seas to search for real news from his father. Meanwhile, Odysseus escaped Calypso's grasp finally heading towards his home but his journey was diverted and he was stranded again in Scheria due to Poseidon's being angry over what Odysseus had blinded his son, the cyclops Polyphemus during his earlier journey. In Scheria, he began to weave his tale and finally tell the Phaecians of his past and his journey back from Troy to Ithaca. The tales itself include his encounter with Circe, Polyphebus, Aeolus, The Cattle of the Sun and etc. The Phaecians took pity on him and send him back to Ithaca where he plotted doom against the suitors who defiled his house.

      The story is being told in various multiple narration in the beginning (Athena, Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus etc) that is why I get some readers would get lost and felt it is boring but if its being read out loud, the poetry in Odyssey is much more prevalent than some passive narration style. Because Fagles updated the translation to be nearer to the original, you'll get the feel of what Homer had initially tried to portray with his stories.

      Since I do critical reading with The Odyssey, I do take note to the major recurrent theme of Xenia. A concept of hospitality by the Greek that embrace travelers into their home, mostly because they fear a god would disguise themselves as travellers and would punish them if they didn't treat their guests well. There are also signs from the gods or the hint by Odysseus cunning tongue or the forebodings. Some argue that The Odyssey is used to justify the role of some political ideologies that even I couldn't grasp it firmly. Besides I was thinking that The Odyssey's characterizations and conflicts are being overused in so many modern literature particularly famous archetypal ones.

      Other than that, I do notice this book is actually a mild romance novel, particularly with Penelope who is constantly grieving about her husband from the start of the book. I can't say about Odysseus fidelity but frankly, some characters in this book is classic strong female archetype. Athena (obviously.. disguising as several guys, fighting in wars, a peacekeeper etc), Penelope (a loyal woman who acting skills and great patience is what kept her in that limbo and somehow did do something to escape her near inevitable fate of loveless forced marriage from a broken mutual love marriage), Calypso (a woman desperate in need of love and companionship so much that she offers everything kept a man who never love her) and Circe (basically a lonely girl who know how to defend herself against a bunch of men coming into her house and turn them into pigs which they are). Ironically, the female in this book have more character than a bunch of YA novels and hypes these days.

      I had some misgivings about the story initially since Telemachus part of the book is really annoying. But it move well whenever Athena and Odysseus was around.

      To anyone who is considering to take on the classic, for more immersive experience, I would recommend the combination of Fagles translation and Sir Ian McKellan's audiobook if you want to read the epic. It will take longer than a few days if you read them at night, but its well worth to see Ian McKellan curses and narrating female parts nicely.
    • 5/5
      Condensed version of the incredible epic, though Odysseus does not loose his luster even in Spanish. He continues to be a hero you wish to see home, but know he has many flaws that he needs to work on.
    • 4/5
      Great story and translated in a way that compares more with a modern written tale.
    • 4/5
      This epic I never did try to read as a teenager, but I knew that it too would come someday just as the Iliad would. This epic took longer to read than the Iliad, but then the translation of the Iliad I read had some books taken out for the sake of the readers. This translation by Fagles didn't cut anything out. I really enjoyed this translation. I've heard others praise Fagles as a wonderful translator and I have to agree. This myth is also an outstanding one. It really personifies the Quest Pattern we now-a-days link to many books. This is another epic I would love to listen to as well, so we'll see if I can get my hands on another good translation.
    • 5/5
      An epic tale of Odysseus as he makes he journey back home from the Trojan war. Lost at sea for 6 years trying to get home to his wife, he encounters many obstacles such as sirens, cyclopes, and sea creatures! This tale, has plenty of room for interpretation and meaning behind it which would make for a great book to share in a middle to high school class room. Not only is it entertaining but it give a slight historical account of the Trojan war. The students will be able to take an abundance of knowledge such as moral and ethical dilemmas as well as recognizing personal growth. I remember reading this book in middle school and I would recommend it to anyone who has the desire for adventure and the open mindedness and the willingness to learn that needs to be present during the story.
    • 4/5
      Confession time: I managed to make it through high school and an undergrad degree in English without reading The Odyssey or The Iliad.I know... One of my professors was appalled too. The truth is, as I find verse difficult to being with, epic poetry scares me. If it weren't for a friend's encouragement to read it in tandem, I probably would have let this languish on my shelves even longer despite the fact that I'd purposely bought Robert Fagles' translation as one I could pretty much follow what was happening.Everyone knows the story the gist of the story, so I'll dispense with the summary. The story starts out slowly with Odysseus' son and what's going on in his absence; it wasn't until around Book 5 that the action started moving along for me. One moment I was moving along swimmingly and the next I was getting bogged down. One moment was boring and the next brutally violent. I knew the end of the story, but I was really surprised by how at once familiar and unfamiliar I was with how the journey played out. On the one hand, I recognized a lot of the characters and incidents. On the other, I had no idea they happened in this particular myth in this particular way. I usually read multiple books, and admittedly this was not the first book I was drawn to read when I had the time, but I kept moving along and - in the end - I'm glad I read it.
    • 4/5
      I've read this classic a number of times. Most "recently" was for Mythology and Parageography at university. I always enjoy mythology, and I'm not a great judge of translations or anything, but I do better reading this outloud to myself.

      I love Odysseus and his travels. I should read it more often.
    • 4/5
      I've always loved the Odyssey. Odysseus isn't my favourite hero -- he spends far too much time being tricksy for that. But I always enjoyed the stories.
    • 3/5
      I'm glad that my library had this as an audiobook - I think it made me like the tale much more. Had I read it in paper the style would just make me bored and quit but the story fit well in an audio format.

      The writing style was mediocre and much repetitions to make the reader remember that it was Athena in a different shape etcetera. I wouldn't have liked this style at all in paper form. But it's heart-warming, thinking that someone back in the ancient days wrote this, that the humans had the same reactions and feelings back then. And the story in itself is a good adventure tale.
    • 4/5
      I have read several versions of The Odyssey ranging from ones designed for collegiate readers to ones designed for early readers, and frankly I like them all. I have long been a fan of this particular story for all its colorful characters and life lessons. I think that the parallel story lines of Odysseus, Telemachus, and Penelope offer a variety of perspectives for any reader.
    • 5/5
      The greatest of all ancient Greek works is spellbinding. Fagles' prose is lean and muscular, giving a grit and immediacy to his adventures. Loved it when I read it in high school, love it still today. As relevant today as it was nealy 3000 years ago.
    • 4/5
      A classic and a great look into Greek lit.
    • 4/5
      I first read this book back in middle school and have loved it ever since.

      The story (in case you don't know), follows Odysseus fresh from the Trojan War as he tries to get home to his lovely wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus. Adventure ensues.

      I personally like that the Odyssey is about cunning not necessarily strength. Odysseus relies much more on mind than muscle, a tendency that his many adventures showcase. he uses his brains to get out of the sticky situations he finds himself in and doesn't always go to the "easy" route of just stabbing everything with his sword.

      Plus it has some of the best writing ever, in my opinion of course, such as this quote when Odysseus and Penelope are re-united:

      "Now from his breast into the eyes the ache
      of longing mounted, and he wept at last,
      his dear wife, clear and faithful, in his arms,
      longed for as the sunwarmed earth is longed for by a swimmer
      spent in rough water where his ship went down
      under Poseidon's blows, gale winds and tons of sea.
      Few men can keep alive through a big serf
      to crawl, clotted with brine, on kindly beaches
      in joy, in joy, knowing the abyss behind:
      and so she too rejoiced, her gaze upon her husband,
      her white arms round him pressed as though forever.”


      I love this book, and I think that everyone should read it at least once.
    • 5/5
      How much I enjoy this book: I just re-read it for the third time, this time in preparation for Joyce's Ulysses and Burroughs's Naked Lunch (Arnold Weinstein from Brown University says Burroughs was heavily influenced by the Odyssey).

      There are several reasons the Odyssey is still good after almost three thousand years--among many, the structure pulls you in, the plot keeps you interested, Ulysses, Telemachus, and Penelope go through interesting and realistic changes. It's a wonderfully well-told story.