The
Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek
epic poemAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
s attributed to
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
. It is, in part, a sequel to the
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern
Western canonThe Western canon is a term used to denote a canon of books, and, more widely, music and art, that has been the most influential in shaping Western culture...
. Indeed it is the second—the
Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature. It was probably composed near the end of the eighth century BC, somewhere in
IoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
, the Greek-speaking coastal region of what is now
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
.
The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
(or Ulysses, as he was known in
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
myths) and his long journey home following the fall of
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach
IthacaIthaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 45 square miles and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the Kefallinia Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia...
after the ten-year
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife
PenelopeIn Homer's Odyssey, Penelópē is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually rejoined with him....
and son
TelemachusTelemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey...
must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.
It continues to be read in the
Homeric GreekHomeric Greek is the form of Ancient Greek that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. It is an archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other dialects, such as Aeolic Greek. It later served as the basis of Epic Greek, the language of epic poetry, typically in dactylic...
and translated into modern languages around the world. The original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an
aoidosThe Greek word aoidos or aōdos referred to a classical Greek singer. In modern Homeric scholarship aoidos is used by some as the technical term for a skilled oral epic poet in the tradition to which the Iliad and Odyssey are believed to belong .- Song and poetry in the Iliad and Odyssey :In...
, perhaps a
rhapsodeA rhapsode or, in modern usage, rhapsodist, refers to a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry in the fifth and fourth centuries BC . Rhapsodes notably performed the epics of Homer but also the wisdom and catalogue poetry of Hesiod and the satires of Archilochus and others...
, and was intended more to be sung than read. The details of the ancient oral performance, and the story's conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The
Odyssey was written in a regionless poetic dialect of Greek and comprises 12,110 lines of
dactylic hexameterDactylic hexameter is a form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme. It is traditionally associated with the quantitative meter of classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin, and was consequently considered to be the Grand Style of classical poetry...
. Among the most impressive elements of the text are its strikingly modern non-linear plot, and the fact that events are shown to depend as much on the choices made by women and serfs as on the actions of fighting men. In the
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
as well as many others, the word
odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.
Synopsis
TelemachusTelemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey...
, Odysseus's son, is only a month old when Odysseus sets out for Troy to fight a war he wants no part of. At the point where the
Odyssey begins, ten years after the end of the ten-year
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, Telemachus is twenty and is sharing his absent father’s house on the island of Ithaca with his mother
PenelopeIn Homer's Odyssey, Penelópē is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually rejoined with him....
and a crowd of 108 boisterous young men, "the Suitors", whose aim is to persuade Penelope that her husband is dead and that she should marry one of them.
Odysseus’s protector, the goddess
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
, discusses his fate with
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
, king of the gods, at a moment when Odysseus's enemy, the god of the sea
PoseidonIn Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
, is absent from Mount Olympus. Then, disguised as a Taphian chieftain named
MentesIn Greek mythology, Mentes is the name of two different Trojan War leaders, the King of the Cicones and the King of the Taphians . In Book I of The Odyssey, the Goddess Athena disguises herself as Mentes , an old family friend of Odysseus, when she goes to visit his son, Telemachus....
, she visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality; they observe the Suitors dining rowdily, and the bard
PhemiusIn Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey Phemius is an Ithacan poet who performs narrative songs in the house of the absent Odysseus. His audience is made up largely of the "Suitors" , who live in the house while attempting to persuade Penelope to marry one of them...
performing a narrative poem for them. Penelope objects to Phemius's theme, the "Return from Troy" because it reminds her of her missing husband, but Telemachus rebuts her objections.
That night, Athena disguised as Telemachus finds a ship and crew for the true Telemachus. The next morning, Telemachus calls an assembly of citizens of Ithaca to discuss what should be done to the suitors. Accompanied by Athena (now disguised as his friend
MentorIn Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors...
), he departs for the Greek mainland and the household of
NestorNestor may refer to:*Nestor , the son of Neleus, the King of Pylos and Chloris in Greek mythology*Nestor *Nestor Gianaclis, 19th Century founder of the Egyptian cigarette industry*Nestor , a genus of parrots in ornithology...
, most venerable of the Greek warriors at Troy, now at home in
PylosThis article is about the Greek geographical feature and town. For the mythological figure see Pylus . For board game see Pylos ....
. From there, Telemachus rides overland, accompanied by Nestor's son, to
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
, where he finds
MenelausMenelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
and
HelenIn Greek mythology, Helen , known as Helen of Troy , was the daughter of Zeus and Leda , wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor, Polydeuces and Clytemnestra. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War...
, now reconciled. He is told that they returned to
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
after a long voyage by way of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
; there, on the magical island of
PharosPharos may refer to:Lighthouses:* The Pharos of Alexandria, a tower built on the island of Pharos that became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World* The Pharos, either of two Roman lighthouses built at Dubris...
, Menelaus encountered the old sea-god
ProteusIn Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-god, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea", whose name suggests the "first", as protogonos is the "primordial" or the "firstborn". He became the son of Poseidon in the Olympian theogony In Greek mythology, Proteus (Πρωτεύς) is...
, who told him that Odysseus was a captive of the nymph
CalypsoCalypso was a sea nymph in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of the Titan, Atlas, and is also known as Atlantis in ancient Greek. Her mother was probably Tethys. Calypso was confined to the island of Ogygia for supporting her father and the Titans during the Titanomachy...
. Incidentally, Telemachus learns the fate of Menelaus’ brother
AgamemnonIn Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope; the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos...
, king of
MycenaeMycenae , is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
and leader of the Greeks at Troy, murdered on his return home by his wife
ClytemnestraClytemnestra is the traditional, but mistaken, English form for what is properly "Clytaemestra". "Her name in Greek is Klutaiméstra . . . the form with μν first appeared in the middle Byzantine period . . . and is due to a false etymological connection with μναoμαι 'woo, court'. Aeschylus . ....
and her lover
AegisthusIn Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of his daughter, Pelopia....
.
Then the story of Odysseus is told. He has spent seven years in captivity on Calypso's island. She is persuaded to release him by the messenger god
HermesHermes is the Messenger of the gods in Greek mythology as well as a guide to the Underworld. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of...
, who has been sent by Zeus in response to Athena's plea. Odysseus builds a raft and is given clothing, food and drink by Calypso. The raft is wrecked by Poseidon, but Odysseus swims ashore on the island of
ScherieScheria –also known as Scherie or Phaeacia– was a region of land in the eastern Mediterranean in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaiakians and the last destination of Odysseus before returning home to Ithaca.-Odysseus meets Nausikaa:In the...
, where, naked and exhausted, he hides in a pile of leaves and falls asleep. The next morning, awakened by the laughter of girls, he sees the young
NausicaaIn ancient Greek literature, Nausicaa is the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians and Queen Arete in Homer's Odyssey , Book Six. Her name means, in Greek, "burner of ships"....
, who has gone to the seashore with her maids to wash clothes. He appeals to her for help. She encourages him to seek the hospitality of her parents,
AreteIn Greek mythology, Queen Arete of Scheria was the wife of Alcinous and mother of Nausicaa and Laodamas. She welcomed Odysseus and treated him hospitably. Her name appears to be associated with the Ionic noun...
and
AlcinousAlcinous or Alkínoös was in Greek mythology a son of Nausithous, or of Phaeax , and father of Nausicaa, Halius, and Laodamas with Arete. His name literally means "mighty mind"...
. Odysseus is welcomed and is not at first asked for his name. He remains for several days, takes part in a
pentathlonA pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente and -athlon . The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games...
, and hears the blind singer Demodocus perform two narrative poems. The first is an otherwise obscure incident of the Trojan War, the "Quarrel of Odysseus and
AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy....
"; the second is the amusing tale of a love affair between two Olympian gods,
AresIn Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, he is more accurately the god of bloodlust, or slaughter personified: "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."-Etymology:Ares is the god of war...
and
AphroditeAphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty and raw sexuality. According to Greek poet Hesiod, she was born when Cronus cut off Ouranos's genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the aphros arose Aphrodite.Because of her beauty other gods feared that jealousy would interrupt the peace...
. Finally, Odysseus asks Demodocus to return to the Trojan War theme and tell of the
Trojan HorseThe Trojan Horse was a tale from the Trojan War, as told in Virgil's Latin epic poem The Aeneid. The events in this story from the Bronze Age took place after Homer's Iliad, and before Homer's Odyssey. It was the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the...
, a stratagem in which Odysseus had played a leading role. Unable to hide his emotion as he relives this episode, Odysseus at last reveals his identity. He then begins to tell the amazing story of his return from Troy.
After a piratical raid on
IsmarosIsmara also Ismaros or Ismarus was*A Ciconian Homeric town on the Aegean coast of Thrace*A mountain of the same name "Ismaros".*Ismarus. Defender of Thebes. He killed Hippomedon , one of the Seven against Thebes...
in the land of the
CiconesThe Cicones, Ciconians or Kikonians, were a Homeric Thracian tribe, whose stronghold in the time of Odysseus was the town of Ismara , located at the foot of mount Ismara, on the south coast of Thrace . They are mentioned in book two of the Iliad as having joined the war on the side of the Trojans,...
, he and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms. They visited the lethargic
Lotus-EatersIn Greek mythology, the lotus-eaters , also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses or lotophages , were a race of people from an island near North Africa dominated by "lotus" plants...
and were captured by the
CyclopsIn Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops , is a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of its forehead. The classical plural is cyclopes , though the conventional plural cyclopses is also used in English...
PolyphemusPolyphemus , the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa, is a character in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclops. His name means "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.-Polyphemus in Homer's Odyssey:...
, only escaping by blinding him with a wooden stake. They stayed with
AeolusAeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
, the master of the winds; he gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds, except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home. However, the sailors foolishly opened the bag while Odysseus slept, thinking that it contained gold. All of the winds flew out and the resulting storm drove the ships back the way they had come, just as Ithaca came into sight.
After pleading in vain with Aeolus to help them again, they re-embarked and encountered the cannibal Laestrygones. Odysseus’s ship was the only one to escape. He sailed on and visited the witch-goddess
CirceIn Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic living on the island of Aeaea....
. She turned half of his men into swine after feeding them cheese and wine. Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and gave Odysseus a drug called
molyMoly may refer to:*Moly , a magic herb in Greek mythology*Allium moly, a flowering plant...
, a resistance to Circe’s magic. Circe, being attracted to Odysseus' resistance, fell in love with him and released his men. Odysseus and his crew remained with her on the island for one year, while they feasted and drank. Finally, Odysseus' men convinced Odysseus that it was time to leave for Ithaca. Guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew crossed the ocean and reached a harbor at the western edge of the world, where Odysseus sacrificed to the dead and summoned the spirit of the old prophet Teiresias to advise him. Teiresias profesied of many wise and insightful tales, he also foretold of the peaceful death of old age that would become him in his home country. Next Odysseus met the spirit of his own mother, who had died of grief during his long absence; from her, he learned for the first time news of his own household, threatened by the greed of the suitors. Here, too, he met the spirits of famous women and famous men; notably he encountered the spirit of Agamemnon, of whose murder he now learned, who also warned him about the dangers of women (for Odysseus' encounter with the dead, see also
Nekuia).
Returning to Circe’s island, they were advised by her on the remaining stages of the journey. They skirted the land of the Sirens, passed between the many-headed monster
ScyllaScylla , was one of the two monsters in Greek mythology that lived on either side of a narrow channel of water...
and the whirlpool
CharybdisIn Greek mythology, Charybdis or Kharybdis was a sea monster, once a beautiful naiad and the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers and swallows huge amounts of water three times a day before...
, and landed on the island of
ThrinaciaThrinakia , also Trinacria or Thrinacie, mentioned in book 11 of Homer's Odyssey, is the island home of Helios' cattle, guarded by his eldest daughter, Lampetia...
. There, Odysseus’ men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe, and hunted down the sacred cattle of the sun god
HeliosIn Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
. This sacrilege was punished by a shipwreck in which all but Odysseus drowned. He was washed ashore on the island of Calypso, where she compelled him to remain as her lover for seven years before escaping.
Having listened with rapt attention to his story, the Phaeacians, who are skilled mariners, agree to help Odysseus get home. They deliver him at night, while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. He finds his way to the hut of one of his own former slaves, the swineherd
EumaeusIn Greek mythology, Eumaeus, or Eumaios , was Odysseus's swineherd and friend before he left for the Trojan War. His father, Ktesios son of Ormenos, was king of an island called Syria...
. Odysseus disguises himself as a wandering beggar in order to learn how things stand in his household. After dinner, he tells the farm laborers a fictitious tale of himself: he was born in
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, had led a party of Cretans to fight alongside other Greeks in the Trojan War, and had then spent seven years at the court of the king of Egypt; finally he had been shipwrecked in
ThesprotiaThesprotia is one of the prefectures of Greece in the periphery of Epirus. Its capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina to the east and Preveza prefecture in the south. It is one of the smallest Greek prefectures in terms of area and...
and crossed from there to Ithaca.
Meanwhile, Telemachus sails home from Sparta, evading an ambush set by the suitors. He disembarks on the coast of Ithaca and makes for Eumaeus’s hut. Father and son meet; Odysseus identifies himself to Telemachus (but still not to Eumaeus) and they determine that the suitors must be killed. Telemachus gets home first. Accompanied by Eumaeus, Odysseus now returns to his own house, still pretending to be a beggar. He experiences the suitors’ rowdy behavior and plans their death. He meets Penelope and tests her intentions with an invented story of his birth in Crete, where, he says, he once met Odysseus. Closely questioned, he adds that he had recently been in Thesprotia and had learned something there of Odysseus’s recent wanderings.
Odysseus’s identity is discovered by the housekeeper, Eurycleia, as she is washing his feet and discovers an old scar Odysseus received during a boar hunt; he swears her to secrecy. The next day, at Athena’s prompting, Penelope maneuvers the suitors into competing for her hand with an archery competition using Odysseus' bow. The man who can string the bow and shoot it through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseus takes part in the competition himself; he alone is strong enough to string the bow and shoot it through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. He turns his arrows on the suitors and with the help of Athena, Telemachus, Eumaeus and Philoteus the cowherd, all the suitors are killed. Odysseus and Telemachus hang twelve of their household maids, who betrayed Penelope and/or had sex with the suitors; they mutilate and kill the goatherd
MelanthiusMelanthius was a notable ancient Greek painter of the 4th century BC. He belonged to the school of Sicyon, which was noted for fine drawing....
, who had mocked and abused Odysseus. Now at last, Odysseus identifies himself to Penelope. She is hesitant, but accepts him when he mentions that their bed was made from an olive tree still rooted to the gound
The next day he and Telemachus visit the country farm of his old father
LaertesIn Greek mythology, Laërtes was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. He was the father of Odysseus and Ctimene by his wife Anticlea, daughter of the thief Autolycus. Laërtes was an Argonaut and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar...
, who likewise accepts his identity only when Odysseus correctly describes the orchard that Laertes once gave him.
The citizens of Ithaca have followed Odysseus on the road, planning to avenge the killing of the Suitors, their sons. Their leader points out that Odysseus has now caused the deaths of two generations of the men of Ithaca—his sailors, not one of whom survived, and the suitors, whom he has now executed. The goddess Athena intervenes and persuades both sides to give up the vendetta. After this, Ithaca is at peace once more, concluding the
Odyssey.
Character of Odysseus
Odysseus' heroic trait is his
mētis, or "cunning intelligence"; he is often described as the "Peer of
ZeusIn Greek mythology, Zeus is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the...
in Counsel." This intelligence is most often manifested by his use of disguise and deceptive speech. His disguises take forms both physical (altering his appearance) and verbal, such as telling the
CyclopsIn Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops , is a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of its forehead. The classical plural is cyclopes , though the conventional plural cyclopses is also used in English...
PolyphemusPolyphemus , the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa, is a character in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclops. His name means "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.-Polyphemus in Homer's Odyssey:...
that his name is
ΟυτιςOutis or Utis or Utisz or ουτις or OYTIΣ – means Nobody is an often used pseudonym. Artists, writers and others in public life use this pseudonym in order to hide their identity.- Origin of the name :...
, "Nobody", then escaping after blinding Polyphemus. When asked by other Cyclopes why he is screaming, Polyphemus replies that "Nobody" is hurting him, so the others assume that, "If alone as you are [Polyphemus] none uses violence on you, why, there is no avoiding the sickness sent by great Zeus; so you had better pray to your father, the lord Poseidon". The most evident flaw that Odysseus sports is that of his arrogance and his pride, or
hubrisHubris is a term used in modern English to indicate overweening pride, haughtiness, or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution or Nemesis. In ancient Greece, hubris referred to actions which, intentionally or not, shamed and humiliated the victim, and frequently the perpetrator as well...
. As he sails away from the island of the Cyclopēs, he shouts his name and boasts that no one can defeat the "Great Odysseus". The Cyclops then throws the top half of a mountain at him and prays to his father, Poseidon, saying that Odysseus has blinded him. This enrages Poseidon, causing the god to thwart Odysseus' homecoming for a very long time.
Structure
The
Odyssey begins
in medias resIn medias res, also medias in res , refers to a literary and artistic technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of from its beginning...
, meaning that the plot begins in the middle of the overall story, and that prior events are described through flashbacks or storytelling. This device is imitated by later authors of literary epics, for example,
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
in the
AeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is written in dactylic hexameter...
, as well as modern poets such as
Alexander PopeAlexander Pope is a famous eighteenth century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is famous for his use of the heroic couplet.-...
in
The Rape of the LockThe Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany in May 1712 in two cantos , but then revised, expanded and reissued under Pope's name on March 2 1714, in a much-expanded 5-canto version .-The Poem:The poem satirises...
.
In the first episodes, we trace
TelemachusTelemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey...
' efforts to assert control of the household, and then, at Athena’s advice, to search for news of his long-lost father. Then the scene shifts: Odysseus has been a captive of the beautiful nymph
CalypsoCalypso was a sea nymph in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of the Titan, Atlas, and is also known as Atlantis in ancient Greek. Her mother was probably Tethys. Calypso was confined to the island of Ogygia for supporting her father and the Titans during the Titanomachy...
, with whom he has spent seven of his ten lost years. Released by the intercession of his patroness
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
, through the aid of Hermes, he departs, but his raft is destroyed by his divine enemy
PoseidonIn Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
, who is angry because
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
blinded his son,
PolyphemusPolyphemus , the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa, is a character in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclops. His name means "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.-Polyphemus in Homer's Odyssey:...
. When Odysseus washes up on
ScherieScheria –also known as Scherie or Phaeacia– was a region of land in the eastern Mediterranean in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaiakians and the last destination of Odysseus before returning home to Ithaca.-Odysseus meets Nausikaa:In the...
, home to the Phaeacians, he is assisted by the young
NausicaaIn ancient Greek literature, Nausicaa is the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians and Queen Arete in Homer's Odyssey , Book Six. Her name means, in Greek, "burner of ships"....
and is treated hospitably. In return, he satisfies the Phaeacians' curiosity, telling them, and the reader, of all his adventures since departing from Troy. The shipbuilding Phaeacians then loan him a ship to return to
IthacaIthaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 45 square miles and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the Kefallinia Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia...
, where he is aided by the swineherd
EumaeusIn Greek mythology, Eumaeus, or Eumaios , was Odysseus's swineherd and friend before he left for the Trojan War. His father, Ktesios son of Ormenos, was king of an island called Syria...
, meets
TelemachusTelemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey...
, regains his household, kills the suitors, and is reunited with his faithful wife,
PenelopeIn Homer's Odyssey, Penelópē is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually rejoined with him....
.
Nearly all modern editions and translations of the
Odyssey are divided into 24 books. This division is convenient but not original; it was developed by Alexandrian editors of the 3rd century BC. In the Classical period, moreover, several of the books (individually and in groups) were given their own titles: the first four books, focusing on Telemachus, are commonly known as the
TelemachyThe Telemachy is a term traditionally applied to the first four books of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. They are named so because -- just as the Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus -- they tell the story of Odysseus' son Telemachus as he journeys from home for the first time in search of news...
; Odysseus' narrative, Book 9, featuring his encounter with the cyclops Polyphemus, is traditionally called the
Cyclopeia; and Book 11, the section describing his meeting with the spirits of the dead is known as the
Nekuia. Books 9 through 12, wherein Odysseus recalls his adventures for his Phaeacian hosts, are collectively referred to as the
Apologoi: Odysseus' "stories".
Book 22, wherein Odysseus kills all the suitors, has been given the title
Mnesterophonia: "slaughter of the suitors".
The last 548 lines of the
Odyssey, corresponding to Book 24, are believed by many scholars to have been added by a slightly later poet. Several passages in earlier books seem to be setting up the events of Book 24, so if it were indeed a later addition, the offending editor would seem to have changed earlier text as well. For more about varying views on the origin, authorship and unity of the poem see
Homeric scholarshipHomeric scholarship is the study of Homeric epic, especially the two large surviving epics, the Iliad and Odyssey. It is currently part of the academic discipline of classical studies, but the subject is one of the very oldest topics in all scholarship or science, and goes back to antiquity...
.
Geography of the Odyssey
Events in the main sequence of the
Odyssey (excluding the narrative of Odysseus) take place in the
PeloponneseThe Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and region in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
and in what are now called the
Ionian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called "Eptanisa", i.e...
. There are difficulties in the identification of
IthacaIthaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 45 square miles and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the Kefallinia Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia...
, the homeland of Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithake. The wanderings of Odysseus as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacians' own island of
ScherieScheria –also known as Scherie or Phaeacia– was a region of land in the eastern Mediterranean in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaiakians and the last destination of Odysseus before returning home to Ithaca.-Odysseus meets Nausikaa:In the...
, pose more fundamental geographical problems: scholars both ancient and modern are divided as to whether or not any of the places visited by Odysseus (after
IsmarosIsmara also Ismaros or Ismarus was*A Ciconian Homeric town on the Aegean coast of Thrace*A mountain of the same name "Ismaros".*Ismarus. Defender of Thebes. He killed Hippomedon , one of the Seven against Thebes...
and before his return to
IthacaIthaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 45 square miles and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the Kefallinia Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia...
) are real.
Dating the Odyssey
In 2008, scientists Marcelo Magnasco and Constantino Baikouzis at
Rockefeller UniversityThe Rockefeller University is a private university which focuses primarily on basic research in the biomedical fields and offers graduate and postgraduate education. It is located between 63rd and 68th Streets along York Avenue, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York...
used clues in the text and astronomical data to attempt to pinpoint the time of Odysseus's return from his journey after the Trojan War.
The first clue is Odysseus's sighting of
VenusVenus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6...
just before dawn as he arrives on Ithaca. The second is a new moon on the night before the massacre of the suitors. The final clue is a total
eclipseAn eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. The term is derived from the ancient Greek noun , which is derived from the verb , "to cease to exist," a combination of prefix , from preposition , "out," and of verb , "to be absent"...
, falling over Ithaca around noon, when Penelope's suitors sit down for their noon meal. The seer
TheoclymenusIn Greek mythology, Theoclymenus , son of Polypheides, was a prophet from Argos, who, in the Odyssey, had been taken from that city after killing one of his relatives being captured by pirates. He fled to Pylos and sought refuge aboard the ship of Telemachus, who had come to inquire about the fate...
approaches the suitors and foretells their death, saying, "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world."
Doctors Baikouzis and Magnasco state that "[t]he odds that purely fictional references to these phenomena (so hard to satisfy simultaneously) would coincide by accident with the only eclipse of the century are minute." They conclude that these three astronomical references "'cohere,' in the sense that the astronomical phenomena pinpoint the date of 16 April, 1178 B.C." as the most likely date of Odysseus' return.
This dating places the destruction of Troy, twenty years before, to 1198 B.C., which is close to the archaeologically dated destruction of Troy VIIa circa 1190 B.C.
Near Eastern influences
Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the
Odyssey.
Martin WestMartin Litchfield West is an internationally recognised scholar in classics, classical antiquity and philology...
has noted substantial parallels between the
Epic of GilgameshThe Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Iraq and is among the earliest known works of literary writings. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian poem much later;...
and the
Odyssey. Both Odysseus and
GilgameshGilgamesh, also known as Bilgameṣ in the earliest text, was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list...
are known for traveling to the ends of the earth, and on their journeys go to the land of the dead. On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to him by
CirceIn Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic living on the island of Aeaea....
, a goddess who is the daughter of the sun-god
HeliosIn Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
. Her island,
AeaeaAeaea or Eëa was a possibly mythological island said to be the home of the sorceress Circe. Odysseus tells Alcinous that he stayed here for a year on his way home to Ithaca....
, is located at the edges of the world, and seems to have close associations with the sun. Like Odysseus,
GilgameshGilgamesh, also known as Bilgameṣ in the earliest text, was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list...
gets directions on how to reach the land of the dead from a divine helper: in this case, she is the goddess
SiduriSiduri is a character in the Epic of Gilgamesh. She is an "alewife", a wise female divinity associated with fermentation. In the Old Babylonian version of the Epic, She attempts to dissuade Gilgamesh in his quest for immortality, urging him to enjoy life Siduri is a character in the Epic of...
, who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the ends of the earth. Her home is also associated with the sun: Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath Mt.
MashuMashu, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian mythology, is a great mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey after leaving the Cedar Forest, a forest of ten thousand leagues span...
, the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky. West argues that the similarity of Odysseus' and Gilgamesh's journeys to the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon the
Odyssey.
Text history
- The Athenian tyrant Peisistratos
Peisistratus was a tyrant of Athens from 546 to 527/8 BCE...
, who ruled between 546 and 527 BC, is believed to have established a Commission of Editors of Homer to edit the text of the poems and remove any errors and interpolations, thus establishing a canonical text.
- The earliest papyrus fragments date back to the third century BC.
- The oldest complete manuscript is the Laurentianus from the 10th or 11th century.
- The editio princeps
In classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. It means, roughly, the first printed edition of a work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which were therefore circulated only after being copied by hand.For example, the editio princeps of Homer is that of Demetrius...
of both the Iliad and the Odyssey is by Demetrius ChalcondylesDemetricocondyles or Demetrios Chalcocondylis or Chalcocondylas or Chalcondyles , was a Greek humanist, scholar and Professor who taught the Greek language in Italy for over forty years; at Padua, Perugia, Milan and Florence...
in FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
, most likely from 1488.
Cultural impact
- True Story
True History or True Story is a fantastic travel tale by the Greek-speaking Syrian author Lucian of Samosata, the earliest known fiction about travelling to outer space, alien life-forms and interplanetary warfare. Written in the second century AD, the novel has been referred to as "the first...
, written by LucianLucian of Samosata was an Assyrian rhetorician, and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.-Biography:...
of Samosata in the 2nd century AD, is a parody of the Odyssey describing a journey beyond the Pillars of HerculesThe Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...
and to the moon.
- A modern novel inspired by the Odyssey is James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish expatriate author, playwright and poet of the 20th century. He is known for his landmark novel Ulysses and its controversial successor Finnegans Wake , as well as the short story collection Dubliners and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of...
's UlyssesUlysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on February 2, 1922, in Paris...
(1922). Every episode of Joyce's novel has an assigned theme, technique and correspondences between its characters and those of Homer's Odyssey.
- The first canto of Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet, critic and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in the first half of the 20th century. He is generally considered the poet most responsible for defining and promoting a modernist aesthetic in poetry...
's The CantosThe Cantos by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a canto. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date from 1922 onwards. It is a book-length work, widely considered...
is a retelling of Odysseus' journey to the underworld.
- Merugud Uilix maicc Leirtis is an eccentric Old Irish version of the material; the work exists in a twelfth-century manuscript that linguists believe is based on an eighth-century original
- Some of the tales of Sinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (also spelled Sindbad; (Persian سندباد Sendbād; Arabic السندباد البحري as-Sindibād al-Baḥri) is a story-cycle of ancient Middle Eastern origin. Sinbad, the hero of the stories, is a fictional sailor from Basrah, living during the Abbasid...
from The Book of One Thousand and One NightsOne Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age...
were taken from the Odyssey.
- The 1954 Broadway musical The Golden Apple
The Golden Apple is a musical adaptation of both the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, with music by Jerome Moross and lyrics by John Treville Latouche...
by librettist John Treville Latouche and composer Jerome MorossJerome Moross was an American-born composer for the stage, and a composer, conductor and orchestrator for motion pictures....
was freely adapted from the IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
and the Odyssey, re-setting the action to the AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
in the years after the Spanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba. The war began after American demands for the resolution of the Cuban fight for independence were rejected by Spain...
, with events inspired by the Iliad in Act One and events inspired by the Odyssey in Act Two.
- The Odyssey
The Odyssey is an Emmy award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated miniseries on NBC from 1997, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky who won the award for "Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Special". The series is based on the ancient Greek epic poem, The Odyssey, which is usually attributed to...
, a made-for-TV movie from 1997 by Hallmark Entertainment and directed by Andrei KonchalovskyAndrey Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker.-Early years:Born as Andron in Moscow, Soviet Russia to an aristocratic family of Mikhalkovs with centuries-old artistic and aristocratic roots, he changed his first name to Andrei and took his maternal grandfather's...
is a slightly abbreviated version of the epic. It stars Armand AssanteArmand Anthony Assante, Jr. is an American actor.Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York to Katherine, a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist...
, Greta Scacchi-Early life:Scacchi was born Greta Gracco in Milan, Italy on February 18, 1960, the daughter of Luca Scacchi Gracco, an Italian art dealer and painter, and Pamela Carsaniga, an English dancer and antiques dealer...
, Isabella RosselliniIsabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background:Rossellini is the daughter of Swedish...
and Vanessa L. WilliamsVanessa Lynn Williams is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Williams made history on September 17, 1983 when she became the first woman of African American descent to be crowned Miss America. Williams' reign as Miss America came to an abrupt end when scandal led to her subsequent...
.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey is an obvious homage to the work attributed to Homer. There are several elements in 2001 which are direct parallels to The Odyssey such as the hero's shipwreck, his nemesis, (upon whom the hero originally depended upon for sustenance), and the nemesis' single eye.
- In Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French and Swiss filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave"....
's film Le MéprisContempt is a film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the Italian novel Il disprezzo by Alberto Moravia. It stars Brigitte Bardot.-Plot:...
(Contempt) (1963) German film director Fritz LangFriedrich "Fritz" Christian Anton Lang was an Austrian-German-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
plays himself trying to direct a film adaptation.
- The Coen Brothers'
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. For more than twenty years, the pair have written and directed numerous successful films, ranging from screwball comedies to hardboiled thrillers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together...
film O Brother, Where Art Thou?O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 adventure film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning...
was loosely based on Homer's poem.
- American progressive metal
Progressive metal is a fusion genre: a mixture of progressive rock and heavy metal. Progressive metal blends the powerful, guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing of progressive rock...
band Symphony XSymphony X is an American progressive metal band founded in New Jersey in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo. Their 1997 album The Divine Wings of Tragedy and their 2000 release V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community...
made a musical interpretation of the Odyssey in the album The Odyssey.
- Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain may refer to:* Cold Mountain , by Charles Frazier* Cold Mountain , a film adaptation of the novel by Charles Frazier** Cold Mountain , the soundtrack to the film...
, a Civil WarA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
novel written by Charles FrazierCharles Frazier is an award-winning American historical novelist.Frazier was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1973. He earned an M.A. from Appalachian State University in the mid-1970s, and received his Ph.D. in English from the University...
follows the path of the classic Odyssey, as a soldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
from the high country of North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
struggles to return home to his sweetheartSweetheart is a term of endearment that could be applied to a person's significant other.The term is also used to refer to the following:*Sweetheart , recorded by Rainy Davis and re-recorded by Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri*Sweetheart...
.
- The Japanese-French anime Ulysses 31
is a Franco-Japanese anime series that updates the Greek and Roman mythology of Odysseus to the 31st century. The show comprises 26 episodes each lasting 24 mins and was produced by D.i.C...
updates the classic world setting into a 31st century space opera.
Notable English translations
This is a partial list of translations into English of Homer's Odyssey. For a more complete list see
English translations of HomerThis is a list of English translations of Homer; that is, of the Iliad and Odyssey, alphabetic by the translator's name, and with the date of first publication...
.
- George Chapman
George Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets...
, 1616 (couplets)
- Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope is a famous eighteenth century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is famous for his use of the heroic couplet.-...
, 1713 (couplets); Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain...
edition; http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/3160
- William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
, 1791 (blank verse)
- Samuel Henry Butcher and Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a prolific Scots man of letters. He was a poet, novelist, and literary critic, and contributor to anthropology...
, Project Gutenberg edition; http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/1728
- William Cullen Bryant
William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.-Youth and education:...
, 1871 (blank verse)
- Mordaunt Roger Barnard
Mordaunt Roger Barnard, Rev. was a Church of England clergyman and translator of works from Scandinavian languages. He was the eldest son of Mordaunt Barnard, Rector of Preston Bagot. a rural dean and JP for Essex...
1876 (blank verse)
- William Morris
William Morris was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, socialist and Marxist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Morris wrote and published poetry, fiction, and translations of ancient and medieval texts...
, 1887
- Samuel Butler, 1898 (prose), Project Gutenberg edition; http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/1727
- Padraic Colum
Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Celtic Revival.-Early life:...
, 1918 (prose), Great Books Online
- A. T. Murray (revised by George E. Dimock), 1919; Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each...
(ISBN 0-674-99561-9)
- George Herbert Palmer
George Herbert Palmer was an American scholar and author, born in Boston. He attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and in 1864 he graduated at Harvard, to which he returned, after study at Tübingen, Germany, and at Andover Theological Seminary, to be tutor in Greek. He became Alford...
, 1921, prose
- T. E. Shaw (T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British military officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18...
), 1932
- W. H. D. Rouse
William Henry Denham Rouse was a pioneering British teacher who advocated the use of the Direct Method of teaching Latin and Greek.-Life:Born in Calcutta India on 30 May 1863...
, 1937, prose
- E. V. Rieu
Emile Victor Rieu was a classicist and publisher, best known for his lucid translations of Homer, as editor of Penguin Classics, and for a modern translation of the four Gospels which evolved from his role as editor of a projected Penguin translation of the Bible...
, 1945, prose
- Robert Fitzgerald
Robert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
, 1963 (ISBN 0-679-72813-9)
- Richmond Lattimore
Richmond Alexander Lattimore was an American poet and translator known for his translations of the Greek classics, especially his versions of the Iliad and Odyssey, which are generally considered as among the best English translations available.Born to David and Margaret Barnes Lattimore in...
, 1965 (ISBN 0-06-093195-7)
- Albert Cook, 1967 (Norton Critical Edition)
- Walter Shewring, 1980 (ISBN 0-19-283375-8), Oxford University Press
Oxford house Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. they are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's...
(Oxford World's Classics), prose
- Allen Mandelbaum, 1990
- Robert Fagles
Robert Fagles was an American professor, poet, and academic, best known for his many translations of ancient Greek classics, especially his acclaimed translations of the epic poems of Homer...
, 1996 (ISBN 0-14-026886-3); an unabridged audio recording by Ian McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE , is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received a Tony Award and two Academy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
is also available (ISBN 0-14-086430-X).
- Stanley Lombardo
Stanley F. Lombardo is an American professor of Classics at the University of Kansas. He is best known for his translations of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid...
, Hackett Publishing CompanyHackett Publishing Company, Inc. is an academic publishing house based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since beginning operations in 1972, Hackett has concentrated mainly on humanities, especially classical and philosophical texts. Many Hackett titles are used as textbooks, making the company very...
, 2000 (ISBN 0-87220-484-7). An audio CD recording read by the translator is also available (ISBN 1-930972-06-7).
- Martin Hammond, 2000, prose
- Edward McCrorie, 2004 (ISBN 0-8018-8267-2), Johns Hopkins University Press
The Johns Hopkins University Press is the publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The Press publishes books, journals, and electronic databases...
.
Xenia
One of the major themes of the Odyssey, and a matter the book frequently refers to, is the Greek idea of
xenia-Thing or concept:* Xenia , the ancient Greek concept of hospitality* Xenia motif, the representation of a host's generosity to his guests* Xenia epigram, an epigram accompanying a present or gift* Xenia , a genus of coral...
(hospitality). For example, in book nine, Odysseus says to Polyphemus the cyclops; "but we on the other hand come reaching to your knees in the hope that you will provide us with a gift of hospitality... as it is right of strangers to do. But, best of men, beware the gods; we come as suppliants to you, Zeus is the avenger of both suppliants and strangers, the god of guests, he who walks the same footsteps as venerable guest-friends."
External links
- Odyssey in Ancient Greek and translation from Perseus Project
The Perseus Project is a digital library project of Tufts University that assembles digital collections of humanities resources. It is hosted by the Department of Classics. It suffers, unfortunately, from very frequent computer hardware problems, and because of this its resources are often...
, with hyperlinks to grammatical and mythological commentary
- Homer's Odyssey by Denton Jaques Snider