- Paperback: 515 pages
- Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (Nov 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0374525749
- ISBN-13: 978-0374525743
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 14.1 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,359,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
I first bought a copy of this translation second-hand 25 years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My old copy having fallen to pieces, I bought a new copy of this edition (with the Carne-Ross introduction) as a paperback in the US. Once again, a great enjoyment. I know no Greek, and found the Introduction informative, so would recommend this edition on the strength of that. Evidently this translation owes a lot to Fitzgerald's skill as a poet. I have not read any other translation.
Format:Paperback
The Trojan War is over and one of our hero kings is lost. His son (Telemachus) travels to find any information about his father's fait. His wife (Penelope) must cunningly hold off suitors that are eating them out of house and home.
If he ever makes it home, Odysseus will have to detect those servants loyal from those who are not. One absent king against rows of suitors; how will he give them their just deserts? We look to Bright Eyed Pallas Athena to help prophecy come true.
Interestingly all the tales of monsters and gods on the sea voyage was told by Odysseus. Notice that no one else survives to tell the tale. Therefore, we have to rely on Odysseus' word.
Many movies took sections of The Odyssey, and expanded them to make interesting stories those selves.
Not just the story but also the way in which it is told will keep you up late at night reading.
The Odyssey
If he ever makes it home, Odysseus will have to detect those servants loyal from those who are not. One absent king against rows of suitors; how will he give them their just deserts? We look to Bright Eyed Pallas Athena to help prophecy come true.
Interestingly all the tales of monsters and gods on the sea voyage was told by Odysseus. Notice that no one else survives to tell the tale. Therefore, we have to rely on Odysseus' word.
Many movies took sections of The Odyssey, and expanded them to make interesting stories those selves.
Not just the story but also the way in which it is told will keep you up late at night reading.
The Odyssey
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
100 reviews
94 of 97 people found the following review helpful
Fitzgerald is Homer's greatest emissary
20 Feb 2000
Format:Hardcover
Robert Fitzgerald's translations are among my favorites. While it is virtually impossible to translate Dactylic Hexameter into English, Fitzgerald still captures much of the power and majesty of Homer in his translation. Now, it is conceded that the Odyssey is technically inferior to the Iliad. It is for this reason that the majority of Homeric scholars believe he wrote the Odyssey first, THEN the Iliad. In any case, the Odyssey is still an awesome piece of literature and has enjoyed an enormous influence over all of western thought for close to 3,000 years. It is dubious to believe too many of today's poets / authors will still be remembered 2,500+ years from now. As always with classic literature, I would admonish anyone interested in reading the Odyssey to first consult everything that has gone before, such as the Judgment of paris & the Iliad, etc. The tale will make SO MUCH more sense that way. As one can see by the negative reviews to this work, Homer is not for those who are only interested in instant gratification. If you cannot get interested in a book which may take you a month to read & a lifetime to truly understand, Homer is not for you. On the other hand, if you're really intrigued by Greek mythology, history or literature, this book is an ABSOLUTE must. It is one of the great cornerstones of all western literature. I am quite certain that people will still be reading Homer 3,000 years from now.
79 of 86 people found the following review helpful
Not as difficult as many think
29 May 2000
Format:Paperback
Just because it's by some guy named Homer and it's "classic" doesn't mean it's unreadable. Quite to the contrary, the Odyssey is one of the most readable ancient works around because so many of the stories (the Cyclops, Scylla and Charbydis, Circe, Penelope) have become part of the very fabric of our Western culture. Even Eric Clapton sings of Homer in "Tales of Brave Ulysses" in the old song by Cream! There's an allusion for you. Surprisingly, most of my honors 9th grade students adored the Odyssey and found it easy going. The Iliad is harder because it's more of a war book, while the Odyssey is much more of an adventure poem. You won't find the same technical level of poetry in the Odyssey (few of the those great epic similies) as you do in the Iliad, but it is the much more accessible work of the two. Great background reading for both kids and adults is the D'Aulair's Greek Mythology which is written for kids, but helpful for adults as well. I do like Fitzgerald's translation, but I"m still partial to the Lattimore for its proximity to the Greek. Most readers will find Fitzgerald easier, but once you've enjoyed it, give the Lattimore a try -- it's the closest you can come to hearing the poem in Greek.
53 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Homer Has It All
26 Oct 2000
Format:Paperback
Robert Fitzgerald's poetic translation of Homer's ODYSSEY simply picked me up and carried me away when I first read it in the tenth grade. I did not expect something written thousands of years ago to have such colorful language and vivid images. Nor did I expect it to surpass anything I had read before as the greatest story ever told. Very few works have even matched it in my last 15 years of reading.
THE ODYSSEY is the prototypical journey tale of world literature. After ten years fighting and helping the Greeks win the Trojan War, Odysseus, King of Ithaka, offends the sea god Poseidon and is doomed to another ten years of wandering before being able to return to his wife, son, and homeland. He meets all manner of deadly obstacles and pleasant diversions along the way, but always in his mind is the desire for home. Virtually everything is in THE ODYSSEY: a son's coming-of-age without his father, a hero's escape from giant whirlpools, sexy sorceresses and the angry wine-dark sea, the most faithful wife in the history of literature, and that's just for starters.
Fitzgerald imposes no stylistic or rhythmic roadblocks, on the contrary, his poetry is smooth and his gift for bring us all the color and music of Homer is rich and deft. In my book, only Shakespeare and Tolstoy are in the same class as Homer, but the ancient one should be experienced first. Read THE ODYSSEY before or after THE ILIAD, but read it and enjoy.
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