The Odyssey: Revised Prose Translation (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Translator), D. C. H. Rieu (Translator), Peter V. Jones (Introduction) "Tell me, Muse, the story of that resourceful man who was driven to wander far and wide after he had sacked the holy citadel of..." (more)
Key Phrases: Pallas Athene, Father Zeus, Zeus the Thunderer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The ten year's adventures of Ulysses during his return journey from Troy.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (July 7, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140445560
• ISBN-13: 978-1573353809
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #634,423 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rieu's prose translation is best for general reader, June 13, 1998

By	"nicbirns2" (New York) - See all my reviews

. 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.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The wanderings and adventures of Odysseus., May 24, 1999

By	R. D. Allison ([e-mail]) (Gainesville, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the Odyssey!!, July 22, 2001

By	elisa (England) - See all my reviews

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!!!