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The Odyssey
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Ideal for readers fascinated by classic literature, students of ancient Greek myths, and anyone seeking a masterful, accessible translation of a foundational epic. Suitable for both scholars and newcomers to Homeric tales.
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See moreDeals with literature's grandest evocation of life's journey, at once an ageless human story and an individual test of moral endurance. This title presents you with the author's best-loved poem, recounting Odysseus' wanderings after the Trojan War.
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Description
Robert Fagles's stunning modern-verse translation—available at last in our black-spine classics line.
Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Christopher Nolan.
A Penguin Classic.
The Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey through life. In the myths and legends that are retold here, renowned translator Robert 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 savour, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery. This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the general reader, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents 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.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Critics praise Fagles's translation as wonderfully readable, striking the perfect balance between roughness and sophistication (Ted Hughes). It is hailed as the finest modern English rendition of ancient Greek epic, drama, and lyric poetry (Garry Wills, The New Yorker), with a style that feels both contemporary and timeless (Richard Jenkyns, The New York Times Book Review).
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780143039952
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 30 November 2006
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Contributors:
- Translated by Robert Fagles
- Introduction by Bernard Knox
- Notes by Bernard Knox
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 24.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 390g
Pages: 560
About the Author
Homerwas probably born around 725BC on the Coast of Asia Minor, now the coast of Turkey, but then really a part of Greece. Homer was the first Greek writer whose work survives. He was one of a long line of bards, or poets, who worked in the oral tradition. Homer and other bards of the time could recite, or chant, long epic poems. Both works attributed to Homer - theIliadand theOdyssey- are over ten thousand lines long in the original. Homer must have had an amazing memory but was helped by the formulaic poetry style of the time. In the Iliad Homer sang of death and glory, of a few days in the struggle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Mortal men played out their fate under the gaze of the gods. TheOdysseyis the original collection of tall traveller's tales. Odysseus, on his way home from the Trojan War, encounters all kinds of marvels from one-eyed giants to witches and beautiful temptresses. His adventures are many and memorable before he gets back to Ithaca and his faithful wife Penelope. We can never be certain that both these stories belonged to Homer. In fact 'Homer' may not be a real name but a kind of nickname meaning perhaps 'the hostage' or 'the blind one'. Whatever the truth of their origin, the two stories, developed around three thousand years ago, may well still be read in three thousand years' time. Robert Fagles(1933-2008) was Arthur W. Marks '19 Professor of Comparative Literature, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He was the recipient of the 1997 PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His translations include Sophocles'sThree Theban Plays, Aeschylus'sOresteia(nominated for a National Book Award), Homer'sIliad(winner of the 1991 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award by The Academy of American Poets), Homer'sOdyssey, and Virgil'sAeneid. Bernard Knox(1914-2010) was Director Emeritus of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C. He taught at Yale University for many years. Among his numerous honors are awards from the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His works includeThe Heroic Temper- Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy, Oedipus at Thebes- Sophocles' Tragic Hero and His TimeandEssays Ancient and Modern(awarded the 1989 PEN/Spielvogel-Diamonstein Award).
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