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The Odyssey (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Homer (Author), Bernard Knox (Introduction), Robert Fagles (Translator) "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..." (more)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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Price For Both: £14.11

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Product details

  • Paperback: 560 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (27 Nov 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140268863
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140268867
  • Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14.5 x 4.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 134,587 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #19 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Poetry & Poets > Classical, Early & Medieval
    #55 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Poetry > Genres > Myths
    #56 in  Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Poetry > Genres > Epics

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

With the Trojan war finally over after many long years, Odysseus wants nothing more than a swift journey home where his throne and beloved wife, Penelope, await him. But Poseidon, the sea god, bears a grudge against him and plans to prevent his return across the wine-dark sea to Ithaca. Many tests of strength and character ensue as Odysseus's journey stretches out over the years, taking in a multitude of strange and wonderful places and creatures. That's the basic plot of the epic poem Homer told nearly 3,000 years ago, but, even now, a new English translation is a true literary event. The ancient story is told in easy-going, beautiful poetry, the characters speak naturally and the action moves along briskly. Even the gods come across as real people, despite the divine powers they constantly exercise. The Odyssey really is a gripping, fast-moving read.

Product Description

Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem, recounting the great wandering of Odysseus during his ten-year voyage back home to Ithaca, after the Trojan War. A superb new verse translation, now published in trade paperback, before the standard Penguin Classic B format. Please note that this is a 'roughcut' edition and as such the pages have uneven edges.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
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. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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The Odyssey (Penguin Classics) 4.1 out of 5 stars (40)
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Customer Reviews

40 Reviews
5 star:
 (25)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Epic achievement, 7 Oct 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: The Odyssey (Hardcover)
Since you ask me, you word-hungry Amazonians,
How I came solate in life to the end of a tale
That schoolchildren read in comic books,
A tale that is one of the sturdy legs
Of the table on which our culture rests
Since you ask, I will tell you, and gladly, too.

My journey started, though you grin in disbelief,
In ninth-grade Latin class, where "Ulysses"
Duped the cyclops by calling himself "Nemo."
Then a deep sleep fell over me,
And I knew no more Homer, not in Greek or Latin
Or English or even the strange tongue
Of the network miniseries, while Sun
Drove his blazing chariot round Earth
One hundred hundred times.

In this sleep I wandered the world of letters,
Homerless but unable to avoid the homeric:
Achilles' heel, the Sirens' song,
Calypso, the Trojan Horse, and swinemaking Circe--
Crouched like Scylla, aswirl like Charybdis,
Threatening cultural death to epic ignorance.

At last I found my literary Tiresias,
The New York Times Book Review.
I shook from this seer the name Fagles,
And so guided, I made my way home at last,
Through a translation that rings of a heroic time,
A time when men were stronger and grander than we,
When women were more beautiful,
And when, granted, sexual equality wanted
A few millennia's labor;
But even so, a rendering as modern
As anything DeLillo, new god of the underworld,
Or the infinitely jesting Wallace
Can lay before us.

The best, in fine, of both worlds, an epic worthy
Of the blind bard and of his heroes, his heroines,
And the deathless denizens of Olympus.

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "I long to be homeward bound" Simon and Garfunkle, 29 April 2007
By bernie "xyzzy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: The Odyssey (Hardcover)
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 on else survives to tell the tale. So 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 the way in which it is told will keep you up late at night reading.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Back to Homer, 29 Aug 1999
By A Customer
Fangles' version of Homer's epic marks a return to the origin of epic poetry. The Odyssey was meant to be read aloud! Fangles' verse speaks to today's reader (instead of at or down at him or her) and retains Homer's poetic grace. Amen. I loved The Odyssey when I first read it (a prose edition) in 8th grade, but this retelling of it blew me away.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent tale
As noted on earlier reviews these two, the first "The Iliad", and now "The Odyssey" have become the translations read for pure enjoyment. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Frank Bierbrauer

2.0 out of 5 stars ¤ Paltry, Un-Homeric Sequel to the Illiad ¤
The Illiad is a jewel, a human epic in the best possible sense of the term. The Odyssey, however, is a pathetic, lost little child of a poem, obviously written by some eager, but... Read more
Published on 22 July 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Homer is not for morons!
There some people who are not ready to ready and understand the greatness of his thought, richness of language, solid vision of reality, desire for the sublime things and... Read more
Published on 13 July 1999

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent adventure story
I enjoyed reading this story, yet I think much of its acclaim comes from its age. At times it does seem to ramble a bit. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars Stick with the Fitzgerald
Apparantly, it is possible to go wrong with The Odyssey. Fitzgerald is 100x better.
Published on 21 Jun 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Great translation of the Odyssey
This was a great translation of The Odyssey. Having looked at a few other translations, the fact that this was the best appeared blatantly in my face. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars Amazon.com's listings for Homer get no stars!
This is a review of your listings for "Homer": they are in excreble condition compared to your otherwise well-constructed listing/bibliographies. Read more
Published on 21 May 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, humanizing
Put aside everything you are reading and read this Fagles translation---or buy the unabridged Odyssey on tape (available on Amazon. Read more
Published on 19 May 1999

2.0 out of 5 stars It's an adventure reading this book
The plot of "The Odyssey" is very good- Odysseus, the hero, wants to come home for the first time in 20 years, while his son looks for him. Read more
Published on 13 May 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars A great Adventure book!
The Odyssey of Homer is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a good book for Jr. High and High school to read. If you enjoy old history you will like this one. Read more
Published on 27 April 1999

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