Saturday, June 16, 2018

THE ODYSSEY




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The Odyssey, Homer, translated by Emily Wilson, W W Norton & Company, 2018, 577 pp
 
 
Big reading goal accomplished! I read The Iliad ten years ago as translated by W H D Rouse. I always intended to read The Odyssey but had been so bored with The Iliad, I could not bring myself to start. I even researched for a better translation and bought a Penguin Classic edition of one supposed to be written in prose instead of verse but never read a page. This this year Emily Wilson published a new translation, lauded as the most accessible one ever.
 
I forked over $40 for the hardcover and began. The Introduction and Translator's Note plus four excellent maps of the world of The Odyssey went for 100 pages but were as good as a class with Ms Wilson, who is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She got me excited to read about Odysseus, that man of many minds and many skills, that trickster with Athena as his guardian goddess.

I did not read it all in one go, but I read steadily every week and finished in three months. Along with the Introduction and Translator's Note in the front of the book, Wilson also provides Notes in the back with a summary of each chapter and additional clarifications as well as an extensive glossary of characters and locations. The book is a complete package and I never lost track of the story.

If you have wanted to read The Odyssey or if you had a less than wonderful time reading it in the past, I recommend this translation. It is as easy to read as a novel and a great adventure story. 

Yesterday I started reading Circe by Madeline Miller. I felt right at home in Ancient Greece where gods and mortals played out their destinies.


(The Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey is available in hardcover by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations - that's a great accomplishment! I read The Odyssey a few years ago, but my copy was an older translation by T.E. Lawrence. If I decide to read it again I will try the Emily Wilson one. I hope you're enjoying Circe!

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    1. Thank you Helen! I have heard of that translation also. I finished Circe last night. A great accomplishment by Madeline Miller. I loved it.

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  2. I have not read either The Iliad or The Odyssey... Essentially, because I thought I'd be bored to tears reading either book. But maybe I'll read the translation you read of The Odyssey.

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    1. Well your fears of boredom were well founded but this translation banishes the fear!

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  3. How cool! Both books are boring to death, but also essential to Western Literature. Someday I'll tackle both. The myths I have read have been retellings of the classics in prose, never Homer. I'll do what you did and read this translation when I tackle it.

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    1. You would be wise to do so! It was not boring.

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  4. I read The Odyssey (as well as Dubliners) a couple of years ago as a preparation for Ulysses. I didn't really think it helped me understand the latter better but it was quite interesting nevertheless.

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    1. Good for you doing all that prep work. I don't know as anything could prepare one for Ulysses. I am going now to read your review.

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  5. Congratulations! I reread The Odyssey and The Iliad a few years ago and found the whole experience fascinating and quite illuminating. Those tales are the basis of so much Western literature.

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    1. Yes, I wanted to read both because of how much they are the basis of Western literature. I am impressed that you have read them both twice!

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