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MarcusBrutus: Robert Graves took the story of "The Odyssey's" authorship and expounds on the theory that it was written by a woman. This is a novel based on that idea.
BookWallah: Odysseus & Shackleton both had travails getting home from their epic voyages. Differences in their stories: The former’s took 17 years, lost all his men, & was told as epic poetry. The latter’s took 16 months, saved all his men, & is told as gripping biography.… (more)
Jitsusama: An ancient classic revolving around Greek Myth. A great help to better understand the mythology of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
So I decided to make this my big classic read for Dewey's Readathon, which means I read this in more or less a single sitting. The advantage was not losing momentum/familiarity while taking weeks or months to finish this. The disadvantage was getting. little antsy. Not a big price to pay.
This was a lovely read! The translation was almost shockingly readable. It really was fascinating how familiar almost all the story beats were, yet how surprised I still was by how the story unfolded.
To be quite honest, I hated this book. Not only because of the language, but because the story was confusing and boring. Do not read this book unless you want to end your life. Period. ( )
An almost startlingly approachable translation. As others, including Ms. Wilson, have written, the translation brings out the complexity of Odysseus' character. I haven't read The Odyssey in a long time, so I'm not sure if it also brings out the violence in the story or if I had merely forgotten it. ( )
I realise full well that arguing that I dislike the Odyssey and think it's bad is "not a good look" but I've been struggling with this. I kept dropping it and coming back and every time I come back I just think it's both 1) boring 2) infuriating. I don't think this is a translation issue.
I guess partly it's mismatched expectations and my own failings. I sort of had in my head that reading this would be fascinating as an insight into ancient Greek culture and just as a general historical interest. But I can't bridge the gap between them and me enough even to enjoy reading this and I'm just begging to give me back modern understandings of plot and characters. I also came in expecting elaboration on all the famous mythological stuff like the Sirens. The sirens get 10 lines, plus maybe 20 more saying "oh yeah they're dangerous, put some wax in". There's no conflict, we don't know anything about them, there's nothing interesting, it's a fantastical creature reduced to all the depth of a basic element on an obstacle course.
The biggest issue that turns it from merely "uninteresting to me" to "I can't stand this" is how much I realised I HATE Odysseus. We're constantly told he's so smart and the only thing he actually does is the whole "no name" trick with Polyphemus. Which is balanced out by 1) him leading his crew into the cave in the first place 2) after doing this, calling out his name so he and his crew can get cursed by Poseidon. He's not a nice character and he's not an interesting one. He's responsible for a big part of his crew getting killed. The times he has good things happen to him, it's the gods' doing. And to be fair, most of the time he has bad things happen to him it's the gods' doing too. Athena and Zeus are both 100% responsible for his predicament and also help him... and also continue to be unhelpful? They appear to only protect Odysseus but are very happy for all his crew and anyone who ever helps him to be killed for some baffling reason. An example story: Odysseus gets told an island has a god's cows on it, and if anyone of his crew eats one then all his crew will die. They get becalmed on the island - and this is clearly stated to be Zeus's doing - making it impossible to leave. They spend weeks going through their stores till they're about to starve. Odysseus goes off to pray and the gods put him to sleep instead. Then the men decide to kill a cow because they're either going to starve to death or be smited. Then after they do this Zeus suddenly lets them off the island... only to smite them with a storm that kills everyone except Odysseus I think in this specific case there was no motivating reason given. I appreciate that this is my failing. The gods are capricious. That's just how it is. But god, it's painful to read. ( )
In this interview, we discuss how her [Wilson's] identity as a woman—and a cis-gendered feminist—informs her translation work, how her Odyssey translation honors both ancient traditions and contemporary reading practices, and what Homer meant when he called Dawn, repeatedly, “rosy-fingered.”
(Emily Wilson translation): To read a translation is like looking at a photo of a sculpture: It shows the thing, but not from every angle. Like every translator, Wilson brings out some features more clearly than others. But altogether it’s as good an “Odyssey” as one could hope for.
The verse idiom of the 20th century does not allow poets to create a grand style, but Mr. Fagles has been remarkably successful in finding a style that is of our time and yet timeless, dignified and yet animated by the vigor and energy essential to any good rendering of this poem. ... This book is a memorable achievement, and the long and excellent introduction by Bernard Knox is a further bonus, scholarly but also relaxed and compellingly readable. Mr. Fagles's translation of the ''Iliad'' was greeted by a chorus of praise when it appeared; his ''Odyssey'' is a worthy successor.
The man, O Muse, inform, that many a way Wound with his wisdom to his wished stay; That wandered wondrous far, when he the town Of sacred Troy had sack'd and shivered down; The cities of a world of nations, With all their manners, minds, and fashions, He saw and knew; at sea felt many woes, Much care sustained, to save from overthrows Himself and friends in their retreat for home; But so their fates he could not overcome, Though much he thirsted it. [George Chapman]
The man for wisdom's various arts renown'd, Long exercised in woes, O Muse! resound; Who, when his arms had wrought the destined fall Of sacred Troy, and razed her heaven-built wall, Wandering from clime to clime, observant stray'd, Their manners noted, and their states survey'd, On stormy seas unnumber'd toils he bore, Safe with his friends to gain his natal shore: Vain toils! their impious folly dared to prey On herds devoted to the god of day; The god vindictive doom'd them never more (Ah, men unbless'd!) to touch that natal shore. [Alexander Pope]
Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. [Samuel Butler]
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy. [Robert Fitzgerald]
Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven far journeys, after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel. Many were they whose cities he saw, whose minds he learned of, many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the wide sea, struggling for his own life and the homecoming of his companions. [Richmond Lattimore]
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. Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds, many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home. [Robert Fagles]
Speak, Memory— Of the cunning hero The wanderer, blown off course time and again After he plundered Troy's sacred heights. Speak Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped, The suffering deep in his heart at sea As he struggled to survive and bring his men home But could not save them, hard as he tried— The fools—destroyed by their own recklessness When they ate the oxen of Hyperion the Sun, And that god snuffed out their day of return. [Stanley Lombardo]
Sing to me of the resourceful man, O Muse, who wandered far after he had sacked the sacred city of Troy. He saw the cities of many men and learned their minds. He suffered many pains on the sea in his spirit, seeking to save his life and the homecoming of his companions.[Barry Powell]
Sing to me, Muse, of that endlessly cunning man who was blown off course to the ends of the earth, in the years after he plundered Troy. He passed through the cities of many people and learned how they thought, and he suffered many bitter hardships upon the high seas as he tried to save his own life and bring his companions back to their home. [Stephen Mitchell]
Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. [Emily Wilson]
Quotations
Last words
Odysseus obeyed her, and his heart rejoiced. Then Pallas Athene, Daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, still using Mentor's form and voice her her disguise, established peace between the two sides.
A Greek epic tells of the adventures of the hero Odysseus during his perilous and protracted journey home from the Trojan War.
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Book description
It includes; The ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY.
Historical Italian translation of Homer's Odyssey. Ippolito Pindemonte (1753-1828) thought that the Odyssey, although lacking the force and beauty of the Iliad, was poetically much nearer to his soul than the Iliad.
Durante il ritorno dalla guerra di Troia, un destino crudele prende a bersagliare Odisseo (Ulisse, per i latini) e i suoi compagni: la loro patria, l'isola di Itaca, pare allontanarsi per sempre, il viaggio sembra impossibile. Lucido e ostinato, pronto a tutto, Odisseo ricorda, previene e si oppone alla sorte, pur di approdare al porto natale e riprendere in pugno il proprio mondo. Ma quel mondo è cambiato, ed è cambiato anche lui. Prefazione di Fausto Codino. (piopas)
Haiku summary
Greek hero of Troy Takes long time getting back home Having adventures. (pickupsticks)
Son wants his Paw home; Paw away on business trip— Sneaks home for bloodbath. (LeBoeuf)
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This was a lovely read! The translation was almost shockingly readable. It really was fascinating how familiar almost all the story beats were, yet how surprised I still was by how the story unfolded.
So glad I finally read this. (