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The Odyssey

homer w.h.d. rouse

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A new edition of the classic translation of the ancient Greek epic chronicles the perilous tenyear journey of Odysseus from the battlefields of Troy to his home in Ithaca. Reprint.

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1,-0700
Places
ithaca, greece, ancient greece, 

This edition

Format
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published
August 1, 1999 by Signet Classics
ISBN
9780451527363
ASIN
0451527364
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Odysseus

    Odysseus

    A legendary Greek king of Ithaca and a hero of Homers epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homers Iliad.Husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus, and son of Laërtes and Anticlea, Odysseus is renowned for his brilliance, gu...

  • Penelope (wife of Odysseus)

    Penelope (wife Of Odysseus)

    In Homers Odyssey, Penelope is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually reunited with him.more...

  • Telemachus

    Telemachus

    Telemachus (Greek: Τηλέμαχος, Tēlemakhos, literally "far-fighter") is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope. When Odysseus had been absent for twenty years, and Penelope was being urged to marry one of the insolent and unruly suito...

  • Minerva

    Minerva

    Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and sponsor of arts, trade, and defense. She was born from the godhead of Jupiter with weapons. The Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of music, poetry, medicine, wisdom, co...

  • Polyphemus

    Polyphemus

    Polyphemus is the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes. His name means "much spoken of" or "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homers Odyssey.more...

  • Achilles

    Achilles

    Achilles is a mythological hero featured in Homers Iliad, where he is depicted as the most feared warrior of his age, a son of the nymph Thetis. Later authors rewrite his story to make him invulnerable, having been dipped in the river Styx by his mo...

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About the author

Profile Image for homer

homer

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Homer (Greek: Όμηρος born c. 8th century BC) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history.
Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The Odyssey chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter.
Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" (τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν). In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in the preface to his translation of the Iliad, Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film.
The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars remain divided as to whether the two works are the product of a single author. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BC. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity; the most widespread account was that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.

French: Homère, Italian: Omero, Portuguese, Spanish: Homero.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 97 votes)
5 stars
36(37%)
4 stars
25(26%)
3 stars
36(37%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
97 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Zukimi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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good. not as good as the iliad.

--

Reread in February 2018.

3 stars for the story itself, which I still find a lot less narratively and thematically compelling than the Iliad.

5 stars for Emily Wilson's masterful and engaging translation, which astounded me for several reasons, including but not limited to: translating that rose-fingered Dawn line differently every single time; rendering the entire poem in iambic pentameter (which was not the meter of the original, but since dactylic hexameter isn't really a thing in English, the iambic pentameter serves to structure the verse into a musical rhythm); eradicating a lot of the misogynistic language that has been used up until now by contemporary male translators, but which was not present in the original Greek. If you haven't read the Odyssey, this is the translation you should read, and if you have, it's worth revisiting to experience the skill and artistry of Wilson's translation.
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fai_fluorite
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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The salt-encrusted reader has completed his voyage.

He has met many mythical men and gods, some women also. The scheming killer Aegisthus, divine Calypso, the Sun God, the savage Cyclops who filled his belly with human meat; the enchantress Circe with her braided hair; the prophet Tiresias; Scylla, barking and howling, and Charybdis, who sucks black water down; Owl-eyed Athena; silver-bowed Apollo; Artemis, Aphrodite, the Harpies.

He has seen vernal dawn touch the sky with flowers; seen her fingers bloom; heard the sounding purple sea rush round the stern and pure Zephyr whistling on wine-dark sea. He has sailed over the watery waves; he has seen darkness drench the eyes of a suitor in desperate pain, an arrow piercing his liver; he has beheld a sky of bronze.

He has wondered at Odysseus, a complicated man – the man who can adapt to anything; the man who, alive, visited Hades; the master of plots and plans; lying Odysseus, the ruiner of his wife's suitors; the wanderer, come home after the War years and years later. Long-suffering Odysseus, crafty Odysseus; unflappable Odysseus; the strategist Odysseus, the master of deception, the trickster, the master liar, he who can smile in scornful rage. Lord Odysseus, weathered Odysseus. Warlike Odysseus.

He has marveled at Penelope, who speaks shrewdly, who speaks to test her husband, who melts the reader's heart.

He has read of much weeping. SO MUCH weeping. By MEN! Greece a land of weepers.

He, like Odysseus, has come home.







He wishes to thank Kris for the invitation to this perfectly paced group read; to thank the other readers who contributed such useful comments; and to thank especially Emily Wilson for her wonderful translation, her great summaries of the books, her informative notes, and her outstanding Introduction to The Odyssey.

If I review "2018 on Goodreads", this will certainly be a highlight.




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Previous review: The Waning of the Middle Ages
Next review: JRZDVLS
Older review: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Previous library review: The Suppliants Aeschylus
Next library review: The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel
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DoomNick
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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Odysseus' decade-long voyage home through the unchartered seas was an uncertain, mystical, and prophetic journey comprised of divine revelations, natural temptations, and struggles that were overcome by Odysseus' unwavering perseverance, cleverness, and spiritual guidance; a pilgrimage of introspection and humans determination along with the power of imagination.

Homer's illustrations of Odysseus' adventurous voyage and Penelope's skillful handle of her suitors while maintaining an unswerving loyalty to her husband were a pleasure to read, where Odysseus' ultimate handling of his wife's suitors towards the end of the epic poem was excessively barbaric for my taste. Nevertheless, Odysseus' and Penelope's journey of progression and determination has left a strong impression on me.
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Hexdsid
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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3,5 aylık bir maceranın sonuna geldim. Okurluk hayatımın en büyük kırılmalarından biri oldu İlyada ve Odysseia. Bundan sonraki okurluk hayatım temelinden sarsıldı ve iyi ki de öyle oldu. Daha önce sanki karanlık bir yolda yönümü çok da bilemeden okuyormuşum da artık bir ışık yandı ve etrafımı görerek okuyor gibiyim.

Azra Erhat'ın her iki kitaba yazdığı önsözler ve Homeros -Gül ile Söyleşi- kitabını okumadan bu iki kitabın dünya sanat tarihinde nerede durduğunu ve kitapların anlattıklarını anlamam mümkün olmayacaktı, sayesinde okurluk hayatım aydınlandı.

Odysseia'yı okurken sık sık bölümleri farklı insanlar yazmış hissine kapıldım, bununla birlikte İlyada'ya göre daha kolay okunuyor, sürekli bir coğrafyadan ötekine doğru akan bir aksiyon olduğu için.
Bölümlerin farklı insanlar tarafından yazıldığını düşünmeme bir sebep de bölümler arasında bazı tutarsızlıklar olması. Bir bölümde okuduğum bir şey ilerleyen bölümde başka bir şekilde karşıma çıktı ya da ben öyle hissettim.
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Yuggen
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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I knew the plot points of The Odyssey long before I read it. I knew the legendary names, the serial perils, the island-hopping adventures and Odysseus's ever-dwindling crew. And I knew about the shocking climax; the slaughter of the suitors, the violent capstone for the tale that defined danger and adventure in the western tradition. I thought I knew this vaunted tale, but having finally read it, it turns out I barely knew the focus of the book at all.
t
Because I always thought the sea adventures were the center stage; the prison of the cyclops cave, the deadly allure of the sirens, Circe and her transforming magic, the twin dooms of Scylla and Charybdis. I assumed the story was dominated by these memorable trials.
t
But it isn't; I estimate that series of Mediterranean perils accounts for less than one-third of the text. Some of these episodes are so brief (like the sirens and Scylla/Charybdis) I suffered a double take wondering if I'd missed something.
t
I'd also always assumed the slaughter of the suitors came as something of a shock; that the reader had little reason to expect such a violent finish. But that climax is heavily foreshadowed; Odysseus's loyal family and servants often say things like 'I wish Odysseus were here, he'd kill these jerks.' We spend far more time with Penelope, Telemachus and the greedy group exploiting them than I suspected; the primary setting is Odysseus's estate, not his ship.
t
This proves that even the most influential stories still have the capacity to surprise; especially if you've put off reading them for so long because you assume you know the whole tale.
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milknegg
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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3-3.5*
El primer texto clásico que leo y muy a mi pesar reconozco que me ha costado un poco. Tenía dos ediciones diferentes: una en prosa y otra en verso, y por cabezonería lo leí en verso cuando yo misma veía que en prosa lo entendía y podía seguir la historia mucho mejor, además de que la traducción me gustaba más.
Por un lado muy contenta de haberlo leído y recordando momentazos épicos de la trama pero por otro un poco apenada porque no ha tenido el impacto que esperaba.
¿Recomendaciones para seguir leyendo literatura clásica? Porque creo que dejaré la Ilíada para dentro de un buen tiempo...xD
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Odlan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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how do you rate one of the oldest, greatest pieces known in literature. I'll just compt out and give it 5 stars. if for no other reason than respect. i hate that Penelope had to be pure while Odysseus went whoring around the Aegean Sea. my modern sensibilities were confounded. LOL! i have read this many times. this time i did audible read by Master actor Ian McKellen. he made up for the awful weird music. Very good tale worth a read if you have not read it.
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Valval0
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
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i read this in school but i don't remember anything about it except the words "wine-dark sea" and that i hated it.

which seems like a good enough reason to reread it someday.

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago, except in this case it's more of a to-read situation
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