The Odyssey, Homer
The Odyssey, Homer
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The Odyssey

Author: Homer, Samuel Butler

Narrator: Mark Nelson

Unabridged: 10 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Engage Books

Published: 07/20/2020


Synopsis

Having spent ten years fighting in the Trojan War, Odysseus embarks on his journey back to Ithica. To get there he must deceive a giant Cyclops, face Poseidon’s wrath, escape cannibalism, defeat the witch-goddess Circe, skirt the land of the Sirens, sail between a six-headed monster and a raging whirlpool, and escape captivity on the island of Calypso. But perhaps his biggest threat is his prolonged absence from home, as 108 suitors are vying for his wife’s hand in marriage.

Composed near the end of the eighth century BC, The Odyssey was intended to be sung by an epic poet. One of the most impressive elements of the text is that events depend equally on the choices made by women and serfs as on the actions of fighting men. The story has had a profound influence on cultures around the world, so much so, that the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage in many languages.

In this edition of Samuel Butler’s translation, the names of the gods and characters have been restored from Latin to the original Greek.

About Homer

Homer is a legendary ancient Greek poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The ancient Greeks generally believed that Homer was a historical individual, but modern scholars are skeptical: no reliable biographical information has been handed down from classical antiquity, and the poems themselves manifestly represent the culmination of many centuries of oral storytelling and a well-developed "formulaic" system of poetic composition. It has been suggested that "Homer" is "not the name of a historical poet, but a fictitious or constructed name."


Reviews

Goodreads review by André on January 25, 2015

I read it when was in school and it was obligatory Portuguese subject reading. I tried a second reading and decided to give another opportunity to this masterpiece and I really really enjoyed it even more than the first time.......more

Goodreads review by Lucinda on September 17, 2011

The best story ever-it has everything-love, romance, war, brave, handsome men, exotic places, monsters, beautiful women-its all in these two stories. Odysseus is my all-time favorite hero, and although he is a brave hero, he has his faults and it's this combination that makes him so lovable and what......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on February 11, 2011

Other than the gruesome, violent images often presented in magnificent detail (hey, it is a war!), I really enjoy reading Homer's epic poem. Where else are we given such insight into stubborn Agamemnon, noble Hector, intelligent and well-spoken Odysseus, lazy and spineless Paris, guilt-ridden Helen,......more

Goodreads review by Elena on February 15, 2021

After reading “The Song of Achilles” I found a new interest in Ancient Greece, as well as the myths and stories that go along with it. “The Iliad and the Odyssey” is as much about history and collective humanity as it is about the actual story of the Trojan War and Odysseus’s voyage home. Although a......more