Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero [Paperback]

Marc Ladewig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2007

After twenty years of war and wandering, Odysseus sails for home but the Sea God wrecks his raft and he swims for three days making sense of his adventures.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marc Ladewig is a native Californian and the father of two grown children. He is a swimmer, veteran, world traveler, mandolin player, language teacher and life long lover of poetry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Infinity Publishing (December 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0741444143
• ISBN-13: 978-0741444141
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,069,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book, May 2, 2008

By 

AngelLesa "AngelLesa" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero (Paperback)

This book is worth the read. If you like Homer. You will love this book. It is like an add on to Homer. I tell everyone I meet to pick this book up.
Easy to read. A wonderful story and written with such grace.

Lesa Trapp

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Odysseus for the New Millennium, July 9, 2008

By 

Chris McGowan (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero (Paperback)

With "Odysseus, the Epic Myth of the Hero," the California poet Marc Ladewig has undertaken a noble task: a contemporary retelling of the adventures of Odysseus (aka "Ulysses"). The ancient king of Ithaca's deeds were originally described by the Greek poet Homer in the 8th century B.C. in the epic poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," which respectively depict the Trojan War and Odysseus's magical and harrowing journey home. The two works are still the most famous epic dramas of Western Civilization, their mythology permanently etched into our collective culture. We know the stories from the original Homer and from adaptations (such as Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 movie "Troy"), elaborate re-workings (James Joyce's "Ulysses" and Joel and Ethan Coen's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" are examples), references in story and song (including Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses"), and innumerable renderings in painting and sculpture. Who has not heard of the Cyclops, Achilles' heel, the Lotus Eaters, the Sirens, or the Trojan horse?

So, it is with a chill up the spine and a rush of nostalgia that one reads Ladewig's opening words: "Sing about that long lost man for me, dear Muse of epic song...." And we plunge into the Homeric reality of legendary warriors and fierce battles, helpful and wrathful gods, oracular and vengeful wives and mothers, seductive goddesses and terrifying creatures, and the homesick Odysseus and his ever faithful wife Penelope. In Ladewig's book, "some parts are translation, some parts are adventures upon which Homer is silent, some parts are pure invention." He is true to the spirit of the original, yet strives to fill in gaps and to interpret. Ladewig, of course, is not the only author to augment Homer's accounts: Euripides and Aeschylus wrote plays more than two thousand years ago that dealt with characters from the Trojan War. For the 21st century, it helps to have a new telling that bridges the gap between the ancient and modern worlds, and their manners of storytelling. Ladewig succeeds admirably in this. His language is fresh and modern, his poetry is vivid and sweeping, and he retains an epic tone, transporting us to faraway, mythic events that have informed our dreams and our strivings for three millennia.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Odyssey for a New Generation, January 21, 2008

By 

Barry C. Jacobsen (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero (Paperback)

I have loved the tales of Homer since a child; reading everything I could get my hands on in my school's library about the Trojan war and the wanderings of Odysseus. My life choices were influenced by my internalization of the warrior ethos found in Homer's immortal poems.

But the old stories grew stale, and I have been unable to get back into them in decades.... Till Marc Ladewig's amazing retelling of the Oddyssey!

This is indeed Homer for a new generation of modern readers. Marc writes in clear and understandable poetic-prose. He serves-up the epic myth in the style of Homer, trimmed of the "fat" that weighs pure translations down for modern readers.

I recommend this book to any reader of any age who thrills to the ancient tales or who enjoyed the film "Troy". But especially I hope this book is picked-up by educators, who will find this a fine piece of literature and a great tool for introducing young minds to the world of Homer. To the "fierce-bred" heroes of ancient Greece; to lovely nymphs and cleaver wives; and to mega-hearted Odysseus, doomed to wander the wine-dark seas before at last returning to hearth and home.