The Odyssey
510 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1,-0700
This edition
- Format
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510 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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November 15, 1998 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- ISBN
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9780374224387
- ASIN
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0374224382
- Language
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English
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
About the author
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.
