Customer Reviews

Odysseus: The Epic Myth of the Hero

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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

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.

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.

By all the gods on Mount Olympus, I have never seen mythology presented so clearly! A poet is dictionary-defined as: a person of imaginative power and sense of beauty; one who presents a subject in a unique way. Marc Ladewig truly has the soul of a poet. My favorite lines, (and there are many) are:
"The strands of god run deep in mortal man
and in the stars and every blade of grass."
Marc has a way of making the gods and their times come alive in a fascinating and memorable way. This epic tale itself is a work of art, the pictures make it even easier to envision the story and the afterword is a wonderful reference tool as well. With the map, the family tree and the glossary of names and places, further study is certainly made much easier. After reading this book, even those who are not poetically inclined will want to read more. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

I was moved by this poetic, beautifully written story of one man's leaving home, then yearning and striving to return. In it's rhythmic style, it's wonderful to read and has something for everyone; love, war, family, struggle and adventure! Give it a try...

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it very interesting and easy to follow. This book was far more interesting than other Greek Mythology books that I have tried to read in the past.

Length:: 4:01 Mins

Odysseus Bids Farewell to Calypso is a video with original musical introduction by the author.