Odyssey

This is an illustrated version of "Odyssey" which is designed to be read aloud in the spirit

of the oral tradition from which the original poem is derived.  It is one of very few translations of classical literature for which illustrator, translator and book designer are the same person.


"Odyssey" is the tale of a man who turns his back on an ideal world in favour of a return

to the real world of humans and humanity. Despite its flaws and his own failings, this world has more attraction than the seemingly perfect world of the immortals.  


Its brilliant realisation by its original author (or authors), in a tradition which predates written language, has made it one of the most influential works of literature ever devised. Many incidents in it are known even to many totally unacquainted with classical literature, to the extent that the word "odyssey" has become a noun in current use in many contexts.


This edition consists of the traditional 24 sections but departs from tradition by shifting the first four to come between sections 10 and eleven.  These books contain the "Telemachy" which is an essentially separate tale of Odysseus's son Telemakhos looking for (news of) his father.