The Odyssey

Nothing I can say about this that hasn't already been said. An amazing story and a very readable translation.

This book is absolutely beautiful with its deckled-edge pages. It’s a great gift for anyone who loves the classics. And, of course, its translation is by Robert Fagles; the best translation of Homer’s works. I highly recommend this edition, it makes a great gift.

These books are great to read when you are not required to read them.

A popular choice for good reason. Beautifully translated. A joy to read.

They say a 'classic book' is one everyone has heard of but no one has read. The Odyssey is clearly in that vane. The translation reads more like a novel than previous versions I've read. If your interested in mythology, this epic story is covers all the gods at their best and worst. Really a ' hero's journey' tale.

As I said in a recent review of Robert Fagles' translation of the Iliad into English, there are very few people on the planet with the necessary knowledge to judge his work as a translator of Homer, and so I cannot comment on the quality of the translation other than to say that I enjoyed the end product immensely. I'll confine my comments more narrowly towards the poem itself and Homer, its author. After reading Fagles' translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey I am struck by one thing and that is this. At no time do any of the major characters (Achilles, Odysseus, etc.) show regret for killing any of the numerous people that they do. They may regret that they offended the gods in some way but that is not the same thing as admitting moral culpability. So for example, in Book 9 of the Odyssey, Odysseus recounts how after leaving Troy (which he sacked) his ships attacked the city of Ismarus, home to the Cicones. His men killed all the men of the town and took all the women as sex slaves. Never once does Odysseus show regret for this action which took place after the Trojan War was already over. Never once does any god or goddess (e.g., Athena) chastise him for this action or punish him for it. He and his men are punished for other lesser offenses such as killing the cows of the Sun, but the attitude that Homer clearly has is that all things are fair in war. This is clearly the attitude of Homer's own times and it stands in stark contrast to our own. The Homeric gods do not uphold a consistent standard of morality applicable to all human beings. Indeed, since they fight amongst each other and since they each have their own agenda all that a man need do to survive is to find favor with a particular god or goddess who will protect him. And that seems to be what Odysseus does with Athena protecting him although Poseidon wants him to suffer. So the question of whether Odysseus is morally right would not even enter Homer's mind. It is beside the point. If we keep this point in mind I think we can understand the flow of the poem much better. It does seem ironic that a man like Odysseus would be zealous for supplicants' rights, supposedly granted by Zeus, in the case of himself being the supplicant (e.g., in Phaeacia, etc.) while at the same time refusing Leodes in Book 22 who pleads for his life. Odysseus lops off his head with a sword. Apparently Homer sees no contradiction in this since no explanation is ever given, but then again Odysseus is the man of twists and turns. I doubt his moral rectitude was ever the main point. Homer makes him out to be somewhat prickly and unapproachable. If he were written today we would call Odysseus the antihero which is quite ironic given that he is one of the prime archetypes of the Greek hero. Of course, the travels and travails starting with the island of the Cyclops are great fun. It's hard to imagine that Homer had some historical itinerary in mind although I would note that at the time of writing the Odyssey (725 - 675 BCE) the Greeks were exploring and establishing colonies around the entire Mediterranean. There must have been fabulous sailors' tales in circulation concerning the strange people the Greeks were coming into contact with. This would have been similar to the fantastic tales that came out of the European age of exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries. All it would take would be for Homer to latch onto some of the more outrageous tales and adapt them to his own needs. Book 11 which has Odysseus and crew voyage to Hades, the Land of the Dead, was quite interesting although it was never quite explained why the spirits in Hades couldn't build their own ships and leave Hades the way Odysseus did. In any case the Odyssey is a lot of rollicking good fun for the most part. It is one of the first adventure stories ever told and it's still a great read all these centuries later.

The pages feel great and the cover is very nice. My son is ecstatic to read it.

Beautiful raw-edged pages. Been listening to EPIC The Musical and it made me want to read this to my kids. We've been enjoying it. If you don't know what I'm talking about: Go listen to EPIC the musical on Spotify or Youtube.

Great deluxe edition if you love the cover and translation. But for any other reason do not buy this edition. Eventhough it is penguin deluxe, they are just paperbacks at the end of the day and the price is quite steep. The pages are a bit thin but other than that perfect edition of Odyssey.

Le produit est arrivé plus vite que ce qui m'avait été annoncé ! Quelle rapidité ! Emballage très sécurisé, produit de qualité. J'avais essayé de commander ce produit dans différentes librairies parisiennes spécialisées, mais toutes m'ont répondu qui'l fallait attendre un délai minimum de trois semaines ! Amazon me l'a envoyé en moins de quatre jours ! Et pour le même prix.

Printing error, we received a copy from a bad batch with ribbed pages. Rest of the quality was good but this was unfortunate and i hope Amazon removes the bad books from the batch. Buyers beware!

I GOT THE BOOK COMPLET AND ON TIME BUT SEEMS THE EDGES WERE CUT IN A BAD WAY AND IT LOOKS BAD

Look fantastic. Can’t wait to read it. Look, the pages isn’t broken or error in cutting whatever. It is intend to be like that. Look ancient. A history. It’s an art. You guys din’t realise that?