The Odyssey (Fagles translation)

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Overview

If The Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then The Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus's reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces during 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.

Translated by Robert Fagles Introduction and Notes by Bernard Knox

A retelling of Homer's epic that describes the wanderings of Odysseus after the fall of Troy.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Robert Fagles's 1990 translation of The Iliad was highly praised; here, he moves to The Odyssey. As in the previous work, he adroitly mixes contemporary language with the driving rhythms of the original. The first line reads: "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." Hellenic scholar Bernard Knox contributes extensive introductory commentary, providing both historical and literary perspective. Notes, a pronouncing glossary, genealogies, a bibliography and maps of Homer's world are included.
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From Barnes & Noble
The greatest adventure story of all time, this epic work chronicles Odysseus's return from the Trojan War and the trials he endures on his journey home. Filled with magic, mystery, and an assortment of gods & goddesses who meddle freely in the affairs of men.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780143039952
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 10/31/2006
  • Edition description: Reissue
  • Pages: 560
  • Sales rank: 100,696
  • Product dimensions: 5.24 (w) x 7.84 (h) x 1.06 (d)

Meet the Author

Homer
Homer
Ancient Greek poet Homer established the gold standard for heroic quests and sweeping journeys with his pair of classic epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Biography

We know very little about the author of The Odyssey and its companion tale, The Iliad. Most scholars agree that Homer was Greek; those who try to identify his origin on the basis of dialect forms in the poems tend to choose as his homeland either Smyrna, now the Turkish city known as Izmir, or Chios, an island in the eastern Aegean Sea.

According to legend, Homer was blind, though scholarly evidence can neither confirm nor contradict the point.

The ongoing debate about who Homer was, when he lived, and even if he wrote The Odyssey and The Iliad is known as the "Homeric question." Classicists do agree that these tales of the fall of the city of Troy (Ilium) in the Trojan War (The Iliad) and the aftermath of that ten-year battle (The Odyssey) coincide with the ending of the Mycenaean period around 1200 BCE (a date that corresponds with the end of the Bronze Age throughout the Eastern Mediterranean). The Mycenaeans were a society of warriors and traders; beginning around 1600 BCE, they became a major power in the Mediterranean. Brilliant potters and architects, they also developed a system of writing known as Linear B, based on a syllabary, writing in which each symbol stands for a syllable.

Scholars disagree on when Homer lived or when he might have written The Odyssey. Some have placed Homer in the late-Mycenaean period, which means he would have written about the Trojan War as recent history. Close study of the texts, however, reveals aspects of political, material, religious, and military life of the Bronze Age and of the so-called Dark Age, as the period of domination by the less-advanced Dorian invaders who usurped the Mycenaeans is known. But how, other scholars argue, could Homer have created works of such magnitude in the Dark Age, when there was no system of writing? Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, placed Homer sometime around the ninth century BCE, at the beginning of the Archaic period, in which the Greeks adopted a system of writing from the Phoenicians and widely colonized the Mediterranean. And modern scholarship shows that the most recent details in the poems are datable to the period between 750 and 700 BCE.

No one, however, disputes the fact that The Odyssey (and The Iliad as well) arose from oral tradition. Stock phrases, types of episodes, and repeated phrases -- such as "early, rose-fingered dawn" -- bear the mark of epic storytelling. Scholars agree, too, that this tale of the Greek hero Odysseus's journey and adventures as he returned home from Troy to Ithaca is a work of the greatest historical significance and, indeed, one of the foundations of Western literature.

Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of The Odyssey.

Good To Know

The meter (rhythmic pattern of syllables) of Homer's epic poems is dactylic hexameter.

Table of Contents

Translator's Preface ix
Introduction xix
1 Trouble at Home 3
2 A Gathering and a Parting 16
3 In the Great Hall of Nestor 28
4 With Menelaos and Helen 43
5 A Raft on the High Seas 67
6 Laundry Friends 81
7 The Warmest Welcome 91
8 Songs, Challenges, Dances, and Gifts 101
9 A Battle, the Lotos, and a Savage's Cave 118
10 Mad Winds, Laistrugonians, and an Enchantress 135
11 The Land of the Dead 152
12 Evil Song, a Deadly Strait, and Forbidden Herds 171
13 A Strange Arrival Home 184
14 The House of the Swineherd 197
15 Son and Father Converging 213
16 Father and Son Reunited 229
17 Unknown in His Own House 243
18 Fights in the Great Hall 261
19 Memory and Dream in the Palace 274
20 Dawn of the Death-Day 292
21 The Stringing of the Bow 304
22 Revenge in the Great Hall 317
23 Husband and Wife at Last 332
24 Last Tensions and Peace 343
Notes 359
Names in the Odyssey 409
Bibliography 417
Customer Reviews
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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 29, 2008

    WONDERFUL!!!

    Well im going to be completely honest about this book. When I first opened the book The Odyssey, I was a little hessitant to reading it. I was a fhreshman in high school and I HAD to read it, it was an obligation because it was a class project that we had to do. But in the end it was all a good read. The book is filled with a wonderfull adventure and action and also love. I recomend this book to anyone who is seeking a thrilling adventure. By the end of this book i was glad that I didn't slack off and actually did the read for this fantastic book. You willnot be dissappointed afterwards.

    14 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 23, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    An Epic of Odysseus' Return

    This is an amazing translation; the language is flawless, almost poetic. And, of course, a timless classic. I had to read this book for my English Honors course and expected boredom. However, I was pleasently surprised-- I enjoyed it! It's the story of the Greek hero, Odysseus, after the Trojan War. On the start of his voyage home, he provokes Poseidon, god of the sea. Thus, releasing the god's wrath. Odysseus faces many obstacles, on account of Poseidon's anger, including an encounter with Cyclops, Circe, and the Sirens, and a journey to Hades' Underworld. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates classic literature. Though the language does take time to become accustomed to, the hardest part of this book is the vast amount of characters. I recommend composing a list of all the gods and goddesses in addition to demigods and heroes.

    8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 14, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Wonderful!

    Fagles makes this classical story accessible to everyone, using easy to read language while relating the adventures of Aeneas as he leaves Troy after being defeated by the Greeks and makes his way to Italy to found Rome. It contains travel tales like the Oddyssey and battles as in the Illiad. The introduction is also well worth reading.

    7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 27, 2009

    Completely unbelievable!

    I am amazed at this book! I was actually required to read this for summer reading and I wasn't exactly thrilled to see how thick it was of pages. But as I read it I became enchanted of the way the words are written and the characters, and the plot! I loved it so much I kept on reading, and before I knew it I was finished with it! An incredible tale written in ancient times that tells the story of an exiled soldier trying to return home with many sinister obstacles bloking his way. A great read for anyone who loves greek mythology, and for people who just love monsters and heroes.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 16, 2007

    A reviewer

    The translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey by Robert Fitzgerald are more enjoyable to read, and are also more reliable and accurate. They are written in prose. If you want poetic versions, you can't beat the translations by Richard Lattimore. My personal favorites are the Fitzgeralds. I am a lawyer. I studied Greek subjects at U.C. Berkeley under professors Gregory Vlastos and Michael Frede. My favorite writers are Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and Proust.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 9, 2003

    timeless

    If you ever had a pet that lingered into old age, then the Odyssey echos across 2,700 years of time to speak to you. That small scene of a few dozen words does what all forms of great art should do,convey a shared experience that is untouched by time and distance. Great Art was onced defined by the artist being able to convey shared experiences far better than anyone else.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 12, 2007

    This is a CLASSIC.

    Although the details of Homer have not survived the ages, this book is an account to the cultural value system, the interests, and the lives of the Greeks. This is one of the most highly influencial fictional works of all time, and was often quoted in court cases, political speeches, and other literature for hundreds of years due to the books powerful imagery and depiction of the human condition (resembling how the Bible was quoted by other societies in other times). Since the book is set thousands of years ago, of course it doesn't conform to the values of contemporary society. To say the book is mistakenly a classic is to infinitely undermine the effect this book has had on the development of literature and story-telling in general. The book traces the journey of Odysseus, 'the storm-tossed man.' He encounters gods, demigods, monsters, and mythical creatures that push creative limits. If you've heard of sirens, cyclops, and et cetera, this book is most likely responsible for that (with the help of The Iliad, Homer's other major work). The Odyssey demonstrates the role of the gods in Greek thinking, which is not only entertaining but informative. The introduction has plenty of background info, as well. A book that has inspired everyone from Aristotle to James Joyce is most definitely a CLASSIC---End of story.

    4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 19, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Still relevent today.

    While a harder read for kids, The Odyssey is still a much-needed read in schools today. Not only can students focus on the surface area motifs of home and heroes, but they can also be pushed deeper into analyizing what real life issues the "monsters" in the story represent. This story has been around for thousands of years, and rightfully so!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 27, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    War and Penelope.

    I hope that those who read my review will forgive me because I would like to talk mainly about Penelope, the wife of Odysseus. When I read the Odyssey for the first time, I thought it was a wonderful adventure book with beautiful and dangerous women and I laughed with that half-wit of a Polyphemus, one of the cyclops. But near the end something was missing, it was not what it should be. Odysseus came home. His son Telemachus and his swineherd were glad and his dog could finally die with the comforting knowledge that it's master was among the living. Why didn't Penelope make a joyful sound ? Why was she so silent ? I shrugged my shoulders and said:'women!'. It's only years later I began to understand a little. So many people died in the Trojan war. The many adorers of Penelope were slaughtered by Odysseus with no compassion at all. The silence of Penelope was a reproachful silence. She was wondering how many more dead people it would take before men could live in peace. We still ask that question.

    2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 7, 2007

    An Interesting Read

    The Odyssey is definitely a piece of literature that I would recommend to readers of a somewhat advanced level. It is an adventure story that will keep the reader 'hooked onto it'. It also has life lessons in each one of the 23 chapters that you can live by such as 'do not trust what is given to you by those you know nothing of'. If you like Greek mythology, you should read this before anything.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 21, 2006

    Great Story

    I love this book. It may seem intimadating at first, but, you usually read it in school, and teachers explain it very well. There are about five million names mentioned, but only like eight names are important. The story was great, and filled with adventure. Not a complicated plot, or very hard language. W.H.D.'s annotations are really helpful, too.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 21, 2011

    Line numbers missing?

    I love the odyssey and this version was particularly clear, but I would like a version with the original lines of poetry listed out so I can take notes properly.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 17, 2011

    good news

    Get a free $5.00 discount code in BN Books! Get in website: loveBN.tk

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 7, 2011

    Great poem

    Im amazingly satisfed with this very interesting even for a 13 year old

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 22, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Palmer's Translation Packs a Punch

    George Herbert Palmer's prose translation of the Odyssey conveys the beauty and grace of the original's poetry with an accessible style. I couldn't put this down.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 5, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Nicely performed.

    Great performance of an old classic.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 14, 2008

    I Also Recommend:

    a great book for history lovers

    this book is great for a teen reader, and anybody who loves history.
    many younger people may not undetrstand it because of the usage of wourds, but overall a good book



    if you liked this then try the iliad

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 18, 2008

    It was required

    i read this book, and I found it interesting at first but when it got to the part where he kept on talking about ALL of his journeys that were actually in Iliad to the Phaeacians, it got VERY annoying, long, and never ending. In addition, it was boring to hear about all his other journeys because it had so many different characters that unless you actually knew them all you would get confused. Honestly, I would not recommend this book because I did not find it fascinating. I found it annoying, and boring. Maybe I am just not interested in these types of books. The only reason I read it was because it was a requirement on the summer reading list.

    1 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 20, 2007

    GREAT ADVENTURE STORY

    i read this book as part of a school assignment but i absolutely LOVED IT. it is a great adventure and love story. i really enjoyed the read and i strongly recommend this book to all readers. it was not difficult for me to understand at all either. when i read it, it was not written out in prose so it is pretty easy if you read the sentence full on until the period. overall great read!!

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 27, 2007

    Too hard to understand

    The odyssey is okay but some of the words are too hard to understand.The only reson I read was because I have to for school.

    1 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

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