Customer Reviews

A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey: Volume II: Books IX-XVI

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This is intended as a warning to those who may be misled by the review of Cihangir Tekcan, entitled "Great book!You should read it!!!".

Tekcan's review has nothing whatsoever to do with this book. Heubeck's book is not remotely designed as a guide on how to read the Odyssey. It is a scholarly commentary, and a very old-fashioned one at that, which is devoted mainly to cross-referencing and consolidating older scholarship, especially from a philological perspective.

Those who are looking for literary appreciation may find the following references useful:
(1) Peter Jones, "Homer's Odyssey: A Companion to the Translation of Richmond Lattimore"; this is a passage-by-passage commentary, but takes a much more literary perspective than Heubeck's volume.
(2) George Dimock, "The Unity of the Odyssey", which is a book-by-book literary appreciation and examination of the epic as a piece of poetry and storytelling.
I recommend Jones for detailed literary work; Dimock for learning how to enter the world of Homer and come to terms with the poetry. (Dimock's book is an exceptional piece, the best of its kind.)

For in-depth scholarship:
(1) This book (Heubeck's) is essential. As mentioned above, though, it is also very, very old-fashioned.
(2) As a counterbalance to the out-dated approach taken in this book, I recommend the superb "Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey" by Irene de Jong.

This book offers a lively and detailed reading of Homer's "The Odyssey", episode by episode, with particular attention paid to the manipulative power of its language and homer's skill in using that power. Heubeck and Hoekstra explore how myth is shaped for specific, rhetorical reasons and suggest ways in which the epic uses its audience's awareness of the varied pool of mythic traditions to give "The Odyssey" remarkable and subtle resonances that have profound power. This book is a perfect introduction for non-specialist general readers, as well as very pertinent for the serious student of Hellenic literature