The Odyssey - Hardcover

Homer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393089053 ISBN 13: 9780393089059

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017

Synopsis

A lean, fleet-footed translation that recaptures Homer’s “nimble gallop” and brings an ancient epic to new life.

The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.

In this fresh, authoritative version―the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman―this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, this engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer’s sprightly pace and singing with a voice that echoes Homer’s music.

Wilson’s Odyssey captures the beauty and enchantment of this ancient poem as well as the suspense and drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, from the cunning goddess Athena, whose interventions guide and protect the hero, to the awkward teenage son, Telemachus, who struggles to achieve adulthood and find his father; from the cautious, clever, and miserable Penelope, who somehow keeps clamoring suitors at bay during her husband’s long absence, to the “complicated” hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this translation as a more fully rounded human being than ever before.

A fascinating introduction provides an informative overview of the Bronze Age milieu that produced the epic, the major themes of the poem, the controversies about its origins, and the unparalleled scope of its impact and influence. Maps drawn especially for this volume, a pronunciation glossary, and extensive notes and summaries of each book make this an Odyssey that will be treasured by a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers alike.

3 maps

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"This is a triumph, a worthy successor to Peter Green's outstanding translation of The Iliad. The style is flexible, sometimes colloquial, and often touching the heights, while being always immensely accessible to a modern reader. No version known to me is better at conveying the feeling as well as the sense of the original, and it takes a poet as well as a scholar to do it so well."—Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University

“Clear, concise, and poetic. Literally an epic achievement. Peter Green has done it again.”—Eric H. Cline, Professor of Classics and Anthropology and the Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University

About the Author

Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Philadelphia.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0393089053
• ISBN 13: 9780393089059
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 592