The Odyssey
Ratings405
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings405
Average rating3.8
This epic poem follows Ulysses, one of the Greek leaders that brought an end to the ten-year-long Trojan war. Longing for home, he travels across the Mediterranean Sea to return to his kingdom in Ithaca; unfortunately, our hero manages to anger Neptune, the god of the sea, making his trip home agonizingly slow and extremely dangerous. While Ulysses is trying to return home, his family in Ithaca is also in danger. Suitors have traveled to the home of Ulysses to marry his wife, Penelope, believing that her husband did not survive the war. These men are willing to kill anyone who stands in their way.
The Odyssey is one of the oldest works of Western literature, dating back to classical antiquity. Homer’s epic poem belongs in a collection called the Epic Cycle, which includes the Iliad. It was originally written in ancient Greek, utilizing a dactylic hexameter rhyme scheme.
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Your experience with the Odyssey will hinge on the translation you read. Here is the criteria I advise you to use.
1. Do you want florid, archaic, antiquated language, or modern, simple vernacular?
2. Do you want to lean into translation-as-adaption, or do you prefer the author remain very close to the original Greek?
If you want a florid adaptation, I recommend Pope's translation. If you want a florid translation, I recommend Fitzgerald. If you want a simple adaptation, I recommend Wilson. If you want a simple translation, I recommend Fagels.
Couldn't get into the story. The prose just let me down. The Iliad had boring parts, this one is just hard to read.
Odysseus's son travels Greece with the guidance of Athena looking for his father. He stops by a few kings to ask for information.
Read 1:54 / 12:54 15%
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