Odyssey of Homer

Great Translation

Lattimore is the best tranlator of Ancient Greek I've seen. As a classics major I have translated numberous tragedies as well as both the Iliad and the Odyssey and Lattimore's translations have often helped me through some rough spots. If you want to get a true idea of the way the Greek was meant to be understood, your best bet is to read translations done by Lattimore.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A GREAT TRANSLATION

Lattimore's translation preserves the dactylic hexameter of the original and therefore is very useful as a guide to translating from the original. There are many verse translations of The Odyssey, but this is certainly one of the best.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One Of The Best Books Ever!!!

I believe that the Odyssey is the best written story ever.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Odyssey of Homer Review

This book was vey invigorating and interesting, Richard Lattimore was (in my opinion) the best translators of his time.The Odyssey takes you on the voyage of Odyseus and makes it feel like you are right there beside the characters.This is a very good book to enjoy by the fire or anywhere one has room to read and keep thoughts clear.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An excellent use of his spare time

Apparently aircraftsman Shaw (T.E. Lawrence; 'Lawrence of Arabia') occupied his spare time while hiding himself in the ranks of the RAF, translating Homer's Odyssey from the original Greek into accessible English. He therefore broke with the strictures of its verse and moved the epic poem into what is essentially, a great adventure story. It is also reported that he took, by some standards, excessive time in crafting the translation; working on particular sections time and again, until his skills as a wordsmith, brought him perfection in phrasing. It is hard work when you start reading but once you become accustomed to the flow of the text, it eases the effort. Some of the wording is, to me sublime. Two examples illustrate: ‘As he was running on, the Goddess broke into a smile and petted him with her hand. She waxed tall: she turned womanly: she was beauty’s mistress, dowered with every accomplishment of taste. Then she spoke to him in words which thrilled.’(p.189). ‘...for there is nothing so good and lovely as when man and wife in their home dwell together in unity of mind and disposition.’(p.89). Need I say more?

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It is free!

This is a translation by George Herbert Palmer.

NOT Lattimore...

Very annoying that it would suggest otherwise in part of the promotional material. And of course in e-book world "all sales are final."

beware-this is an Alexander Pope translation!!!!

21 feb 2011. downloaded this book this morning and lo and behold it was an Alexander Pope translation.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic translation

The Odyssey is a Greek epic clocking in at roughly 12,000 lines divided into twenty-four books (1-4 The Telemachy, 5-8 Odysseus' Homecoming, 9-12 The Great Wanderings, Odysseus on Ithaka, 13-24). The Odyssey was written after The Iliad, but though it takes place in the same universe, it's not really a sequel because The Iliad can be summarized as the Crazy War Between Massive Nation-Armies while The Odyssey is the Crazy Stuff That Happened to This One Guy. The stakes are smaller, and more personal. All epics have central driving themes and while The Iliad is the epic of menos, rage, The Odyssey is the epic of nostos: homecoming. For the most part, this isn't a tale of revenge and combat--all of Odysseus' trials and adventures are only happening because he's trying to get home to his wife and son, which makes The Odyssey so very different from The Iliad that it's possibly by a different author.

Note on the translation: Crafting Greek dactylic hexameter into beautiful, readable English isn't easy, but this translation is a pleasure to read. You can see the poetry in the lines, where it's not just telling a story but making a presentation, and every page has a notation at the top, helpfully summarizing the action.

The opening lines of the epic are a standard Muse invocation, introducing the subject and asking for inspiration: "Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven/ far journeys, after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel." This also introduces the key concept of Ingenuity in the book, which is one of Odysseus' chief virtues. Most characters in this story get epithets, descriptors that show up as often as not when the character is mentioned, and Odysseus is called "resourceful Odysseus," "Odysseus of the many designs," and "the man of many turns" because he's a brainy action hero (think Sherlock Holmes...Indiana Jones...MacGuyver), and a skilled speaker. He can plot, plan, scheme, disguise himself, and use language like a weapon. His cleverness and versatility are contrasted with other characters, but particularly with Polyphemos the cyclops. Polyphemos' one eye represents his single-mindedness, and he is defeated because he can't examine a problem from multiple perspectives, which shown in the famous scene where Odysseus has blinded him and Polyphemos is yelling to the other cyclopes that "nobody" is hurting him because Odysseus said his name is Nobody. The cyclops doesn't understand trickery or double meanings, but Odysseus can use both to his advantage. His versatility and smarts are probably the chief reason that Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is his patroness and biggest fan.

There's also a big Hospitality theme in the Odyssey, and everyone who is good or heroic can be recognized by the way they share food, offer shelter, and provide clothing for those who need it. Food is an especially big deal, and there's a right way to eat and a wrong way to eat--the cyclopes eat their guests, which is the ultimate abuse of hospitality. Penelope's suitors show their evilness by eating up all the food and making themselves at home on property that doesn't belong to them.

The main challenge of reading The Odyssey comes in its non-linear narrative. Much is revealed in flashbacks, either in stories told by Odysseus himself or in songs performed by court poets, but epics really aren't worried about tangents--it's part of the whole package, these lengthy side trips away fr

ODYSSEY

Very easy to understand, very good book.

The Odyssey of Homer, an eloquent masterpiece.

The Odyssey of Homer by Richard Lattimore is an eloquent masterpiece. Richard¿s translation is highly recommended, intriques the reader, and easy to comprehend. This long narrative poem is about the journey of Odysseus. Captain of the Greeks, Royal King of Ithada, and Godlike, Odysseus, ceases the day when he defeats Troy. Odysseus proves his heroism through this intellectual strength, cleverness, and yet, his weakness. All of these superhuman traits are found in each of the sections of the book. The four broad sections of Odyssey are: The Adventures of Telemachos, The homecoming of Odyssseus, The Great Wanderings, and Odysseus on Ithaka.

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