Customer Reviews

The Odyssey: Revised Prose Translation (Penguin Classics)

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. I decided to teach THE DOYSSEY (in a college general education course) from E.V. Rieu's prose translation (Penguin) because I am teaching students at a somewhat introductory level and wanted to do the simplest modern translation possible. To my surprise, I found the simplest, after some comparison, to be revealed as the best. For one thing, epic simile in Rieu's translation is not obtrusive, nor is it meant to be. It is meant to familiarize the non-Homeric reader with the Homeric world, not to serve self-consciously as an example of metaphor as such, which is what freshman-English teachers wanting to smuggle a bit of "literature" into their heavy Great Books diet tend to do. A good example here is in the Circe episode when the mountain lions threatening Odysseus' men but drugged by Circe are compared to dogs whining for scraps at their masters' table. Rieu lets the image speak for itself, and perform its rhetorical function, without having it obtrude from the narrative . The fuss that has greeted Robert Fagles' recent translation of the Odyssey is unprecedented--except if one remembers, as I do, that the Richmond Lattimore and Robert Fitzgerald translations were greeted with equal acclaim a generation ago. Both Bernard Knox (who wrote the introduction to Fagles' translation) and Fagles himself speak of Fitzgerald and Lattimore with mild disparagement, while the reviewers, implicitly by their attitude of "Fagles has finally provided us with a Homer for our time" implicitly dismiss Fitzgerald and Lattimore as failures. Yet the funny thing is Fagles, Fitzgerald, and Lattimore are all rather similar. They were all born within twenty years of each other, in the first quarter of the 20th century. Fagles, Fitzgerald, Lattimore all see themselves as tough-minded modernists, Poundian types, hewers to a stringent poetic line, none of this romantic eloquence or any of this "art" nonsense. They are all of the same vintage. Whatever the social and cultural changes from 1960 to n! ow, they have probably not been substantial enough to change the way we see Homer, a poet writing at the earliest 2700 years ago, from the perspective of a senior scholar/translator. Fagles is probably the best of the poetic versions, as he retreats from the extreme Hellenization in some of the others which gave us "Kirke" instead of the more familiar Circe. Fagles also includes Telemachus' rebuke to his mother, telling her to return to the women's quarters and mind her own business. Fitzgerald had deleted this in apparent recognition of the women's movement. I guess you can see Fagles' re-inclusion of the rebuke as third-wave feminism. Anyway, I don't see that Fagles represents anything but a slight improvement over Fitzgerald and Lattimore, and I do not recommend any of the three. If you want a prose translation that preserves both the sense and phrasing of Homer and is good for introductory students and the general reader, than take the E.V. Rieu translation.

This epic were required reading in the humanities course I took at U.C.L.A. in the mid-1960s. And, I've reread it a number of times since then. The prose translation I read was by Rieu (if you are interested in the verse translation, see the volume provided by Robert Fagles). "The Odyssey" is the epic poem of the wanderings of Odysseus trying to return to his home in Ithaca following the end of the siege of Troy. There are three basic threads in this epic: Telemachus' search for his father, Odysseus (Books II-IV); the wanderings of Odysseus (Books I and V-XIII); and, Penelope's struggles with her suitors (Books XIV-XXIV). All of these come together in the conclusion. "The Odyssey" begins in the middle of the tale (in medias res) when Odysseus request to leave Calypso on the island of Ogygia. Much of his wanderings are told as recaptulations of earlier events. Telemachus sets out from Ithaca to find his father; but he searches in vain at Pylos and Sparta. Odysseus has many adventures in his travels: battle with the warlike Cicones; an encounter with the Lotus-Eaters; the famous fight with the cyclops Polyphemus; a near shipwreak following the release of winds from a bag; a visit with the enchantress Circe who turns Odysseus' men into swine; talks with the spirits of the dead; escape from the Sirens; eluding Scylla and Charybdis, two sea-monsters lying between Italy and Sicily; the killing of the sacred oxen of the Sun; seven years with Calypso; another shipwreak; rescue by King Alcinous; and the final arrival on Ithaca. This is one of the great classics of literature and evry college student should be required to read it. I've always felt that until recently when I discovered that, at a local Middle School, it was required reading for eighth graders! Now, I think that all High School graduates should have read it.

Anybody who can give "The Odyssey" negative ratings, except for those criticizing the translation, have a serious brain defect. This is considered one the greatest books ever written, folks. No, I am not a tenured professor of English or anything like that, but to all of those students out there in high school or college, here's a story to which you can relate. I read "The Odyssey" in my sophmore year of high school and hated it. I never thought that a mere three years later I would come to appreciate this great masterpiece as much as I did. In my freshmen year of college I was "forced" to read this book for my freshmen English class and I realized how much I had grown up between the age of 16 and 18. Don't forsake this book. It is a masterpiece that will survive the test of history for thousands of years to come.

The Odyssey was probably the best book I have ever read. I first read this epic poem as a freshman in high school, and have read it many times after that. The epic journey by Homer captures the journey through life and its obstacles. Odysseus is main character that must journey to find his way home after the victorious battle of Troy. Odysseus has to overcome many obstacles that lie in his path to return home.

In life we also face obstacles that limit our ability. To overcome each different obstacle, one must use strength, mind, and perseverance to move on and succeed in life.

Odysseus overcame these obstacles by problem solving and thinking ahead. The Odyssey really captures the essences of life lessons through out time. The book was excellent. I mean where else can you find bloody battles, passionate love scenes, giant maelstroms, and the occasional six-headed monster.

I recommend this book to any reader, whether in High School, College, or just the average reader. The Odyssey is a definite classic.

I'm 14, live in England and I'm studying the Odyssey for my GCSE in Classical Civilisation, and its a fantastic book. It's amazing to think that this whole story was once MEMORISED by Homer, and because it was so wonderful it was finally written down and has survived for years and years! The Odyssey is a great story because: although it's a mythical tale, Homer tells it with such reality and vivid description that you almost believe it's real, it's filled with excitement, twists and turns, with Odysseus always just about managing to escape from trouble! The intriging mythical creatures are fascinating, full of character and personality - i particularly like Polyphemus the Cyclops and also Athena, the wise goddess. that's another cool thing about the Odyssey - all of the ancient Greek names!! Although the Odyssey is a challenging book to read, due to the complicated people and place names, the long family histories and references to Greek mythology, and the repetitive narration, I would recommend it to anyone. Whether or not you want to analyse it in detail (as I have to for my exam!) or just read it and it enjoy it, everyone should read the Odyssey at least once! I find that each time I read it, I pick up something new, and it gets easier to understand and quicker to read. Just give it a try, it is a classics book, and well worth the effort, although it is challenging. I'm sure that anyone who is interested in mythology, or just adventure stories in general, something in the Odyssey will appeal to you. So read it!!!

The Odyssey is about Odysseus, a brave warrior, returning home and fighting his enemies. I was required to read this in a class I took. After getting over all of the weird names, I found this to be an excellent book. If you like sex and violence, this is the book for you.

(I'm not sure why amazon has over half of these reviews for Fagels's translation on Rieu's page? I noticed this happening quite a bit on amazon, but anyway...)

I have spent quite a bit of time comparing versions of "The Odyssey", and out of all of them I settled on Rieu's pioneering translation.

It was originally published in 1946 as Penguin's very first book!

He would recite "The Odyssey" from the original Greek to his wife and children during the second world war in London while bombs dropped around them. It was Rieu's wish to start a publishing company that dealt with reviving the classics for common man. Penguin Classics is now the most widely loved, read and utilized editions on the market! What a vision he had!

This edition of The Odyssey was revised by his son in 1991 and reprinted with a better print and layout in 2002. It still carries a type of "joie de vivre" all throughout, a wonderful raciness, and a strength of believablity.

...as good as the revised one is, Rieu's original more important and historic because of the eloquent and humble human language he uses...which has largely been taken away.

This is an amazing story. What is more amazing is that this story has traveresed thousands of years and existed primarily through an oral telling, and of course was written down in later years. There is no wonder that this is a classic in many languages.

To put is most simply this is a story told of a man who has extremely poor luck, but always comes out of his adventures the hero. He can only do so by having superior physical strength and by out-smarting things that were stronger than he was. It is because of these characteristics that the reader knows just how important strength and smarts were to the ancient Greeks. A man wasn't complete unless he possesed both. You will also find that the classic Greek tradgedy is also present.

Ok, I am 14 years old and have read the Odyssey and have seen many movies on this book. The Odyssey is about a hero named Odysseus who fights in Troy and spends most of the book trying to get back to Ithica. This is where his wife and son (now older, about 15) still wait his return. He finally gets home and still has many things to do. One of them is he must battle his wifes suitors who came to his home to clame his wife and title. In the end they all live happily ever after, but it is still a great book to read and to own. To be truthful this is the best price for this epic tale of survival.

A retelling of Homer's epic that describes the adventures of the hero Odysseus as he encounters many monsters and other obstacles on his journey home from the Trojan War.
Retells in simple language five episodes in the voyage of the Greek hero Odysseus from Troy to his home in Ithaca.