The Odyssey
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4.0 • 238 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The great epic of Western literature, translated by the acclaimed classicist Robert Fagles, hailed as “the best living translator of ancient Greek drama, lyric poetry, and epic into modern English” (Garry Wills, The New Yorker)
Now a major motion picture directed by Christopher Nolan
A Penguin Classic
“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.” So begins Robert Fagles’s magnificent translation of The Odyssey, literature's grandest evocation of an everyman's journey through life. Odysseus’s reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival against divine and natural forces on his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.
Robert Fagles’s translation of The Odyssey, enhanced with maps, genealogy tables, and pronunciation guides, has been the touchstone translation of Homer’s epic for millions of readers. In the myths and legends retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer’s original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery. With an introduction and textual commentary by renowned classicist Bernard Knox, the Fagles translation of The Odyssey will continue to captivate the general reader and scholar alike.
Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Customer Reviews
A true epic
As I'm sure many have figured out, there is already a free version of this. However, that was translated sometime before the Great Depression. Fagles' translation is far superior, and brings an old classic up to date on its translation. If you are going to read The Odyssey, then this will be worth your 12 bucks.
Great book and translation, terrible E-edition
The book and translation itself are amazing. If you want to read Homer, Fagles is the way to go. But this e-version is absolutely terrible. The spacing is awful and there's distracting numbers off to the side. Do yourself a favor and just buy the paperback. It's not worth the money they charge for the iBooks edition.
A Masterful Translation
Homer's work itself does not need any more praise; it's place among the classics is already firmly defined. This unfortunately leads to a number of translations which do not reflect the colloquial nature of the oral tradition by which "The Odyssey" was originally delivered. Fagles, in a masterful display of self control, manages a tone which is both stately and without excessive airs. It is often too easy to take the original text and see it's nobleness. It is indeed at the pinnacle of the ancient epic tradition. But Fagles here evidently goes to great pains to avoid this grievous mistake, instead highlighting the importance of the text by preserving its rhythm, and creating an atmosphere in which readers are more at ease to read and enjoy the work, as opposed to bowing in reverence.