Reader Reviews for The Odyssey (Penguin Classics):
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Fagles Is the Best Translation Available
Comment: This review is not a review of the story of Odysseus, but rather a review of Robert Fagles's translation of the Odyssey. Fagles's work in this translation is sparkling. I absolutely love the way he's revived this classic tale.
Let me begin with nuts and bolts. The Penguin Classics version of Fagles's translation is simply a great book to hold in your hand. The book FEELS good. Also, the book has some extras that make it essential. First, Barnard Knox has written an excellent introduction to the text. He explains Homer's cultural and literary context, and he covers the various debates regarding the poems creation and transmission in a thorough, non-technical manner. Highly recommended reading. Second, the book has some helpful maps of the Greek-speaking lands to help orient the reader. Third, in the back of the book is a pronunciation guide and glossary. Some of these names are a bit strange, so it's helpful to refer to the back sometimes to get some help. Every character and place in the book, no matter how minor, is explained in the back.
In addition to all these benefits, this translation of the text is my absolute favorite. Fagles has produced a verse translation, which preserves the poetic nature of the original. If you're looking for a prose version of Homer, then this book might not be for you (but I'd suggest you give the verse a try). Fagles's main competition for a verse version of the Odyssey is Richard Lattimore's which was published in the 1960s. Some people feel that Lattimore's version is still superior, but I think those people are just being snobby. Lattimore's version is a little more rigid, maybe a little closer to the Greek, but not as poetic and enjoyable.
One of my favorite things about Fagles over Lattimore is that Fagles has abandoned the pretentious adherence to Greek spellings. In Lattimore we read about Athene, Kalypso, Aithiopians, Kronos, and Ithaka, while in Fagles we read about Athena, Calypso, Ethiopians, Cronus, and Ithaca. It's an Enlish translation so translating the names into their traditional English forms makes for a superior reading experience. Also, Fagles has a better ear for English poetry. So he refers to Odysseus as "the man of twists and turns," while Lattimore calls him "the man of many ways." Lattimore is more literal, but he doesn't capture the essence of the Greek meaning or poetic nature as well as Fagles does. One more example from the first page, Lattimore says that those who made it home from the Trojan War "escaped the sea and the fighting." Compare this with Fagles's far more literary "escaped the wars and waves."
Buy this Fagles translation. Read this Falges translation. Love this Fagles translation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Looks nice on a bookshelf, but worth taking down to read
Comment: I am a big fan of this new series from Penguin Classics. The hardcover bindings (each featuring a stylized pattern that relates--sometimes subtly, sometimes obviously--with the subject of the book), the high-quality pages, and the ribbon bookmark all make these books attractive collectibles. But I also really enjoyed the content of this book. The prose translation was accurate but not slavish. I felt like I was reading a novel. The introduction was also highly readable and informative--I actually wanted to read it, which is unusual.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Could you bend Odysseus' bow?
Comment: Fagle's translation of the Odyssey is excellent as is Knox' knowledgeable foreward. During my life, I've read both the Iliad and Odyssey half a dozen times or more, by various translators, and regard Fagle's version as the best. I don't read Greek, ancient or modern, so, like most of us, I am unable to read the subtleties, glory and poetry of the original tales. I rather suspect, however, the Fagle's interpretation gets us close, indeed.
Every time I read the story...at different stages of my life...I read different things into the tale. This times, perhaps, I am more aware of the duplicity that is the very substance of the hero, Odysseus. Lies...complex, detailed lies...flow from his lips as easily and quickly as water poured from a flask. True, his lies usually serve a 'greater' purpose, but they are still lies...a fact of which gives Odysseus no problem.
Since reading the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' as a teenager, I've always been partial to the directness and overall simplicity of the 'Iliad.' Believability is also a factor. The Trojan War, some of the characters in it and some of the action details are almost certainly based in reality. The 'Odyssey', far lesss so. It seems to be a collection of out-and-out fables in which Odysseus is the primary player. Still....even fables may have echoes of the truth. Could Odysseus have been away from Ithaca for twenty years and would his wife have remained faithful all this time? Quite possibly.
The story of Odysseus' experiences with the goddesses, Circe and Calypso, are fascinating but, of course, fabulous. They also account for most of the time Odysseus spends on his long path home. This might be a fanciful way of dealing with reality. Odysseus may have been captured on his way home and held as a slave. This reality could definitely 'eat up' years of time but the Circe/Calypso stories are far more interesting and add to Odysseus' reputation as a very accomplished ladies man. Later, although, Odysseus has spent so much time as a virtual sexual slave to the goddesses, he happily recounts the adventures to his wife, Penelope. Penelope isn't offended. Afterall, her husband turned down goddesses and eternal blissful life, in favor of return to his wife of many years. It's one heck of a compliment.
There are a couple of other features that I noted that, again, may be rooted in reality. Twice, Odysseus lies that he is from Crete and that he led an unsuccessful attack on the peoples of the Nile Delta. A number of Egyptian accounts report accounts of attacks by 'The Peoples of the Sea'. Could the Achaean Greeks, in their black ships, have been some, or most, of the Sea Peoples?
Also, the death of Agammemnon, should also be noted. This may also be based on reality. Agammemnon, commander of all Achaean Greek forces against Troy, and King of Achaea's most powerful city, Mycenae, is slain by his wife and her lover. The motive is given as sexual infidelity and greed...greed for the throne of Mycenae. In the Odyssey we learn a fascinating 'detail'. Clytemnestra, Agammemnon's murderous wife, slaughters the slave-captive, Cassandra, on Agammemnon's just-killed body.
Hmmmmmm? Why would Clytemnestra kill a valuable slave? Cassandra, of course, was a Princess of demolished Troy and had been violently raped during the destruction of the city. Nevertheless, it would appear that Clytemnestra hated or feared Cassandra. Why? Probably the oldest reason of all...sexual jealousy. Cassandra's murder suggests that the REAL motive for Agammemnon's killing is quite different than usually represented. He may have preferred the company of Cassandra to that of his queen. Clytemnestra reacted with her well-known violence...a woman jilted.
Also, is it conceivable that the Queen, Penelope, could be held virtual prisoner in her own palace...for years...by 100 or so rampaging suitors? The answer must be 'No' but there are some interesting things to note. Odysseus' father, Laertes, would logically be King, but his son, Odysseus, IS King, which leaves a 20 year vacancy to the throne. We learn that Laertes, mourning over his lost son, lives in rags and poverty as a barely surviving farmer. Possible. Depression and/or mental illness. But why not Odysseus' son, Telemachus?
At the time the first suitors might have 'settled in' to pay court to Penolope and to eat up her wealth, Telemachus would have been underaged. The suitors, who would have become more arrogant and confident, would scarecely have Telemachus the opportunity to claim the throne. Still......it's a far-fetched tale.
Ron Braithwaite, author of novels...'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'...on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Customer Rating:
Summary: It was exactly what I ordered
Comment: It's a book of Homer - VERSE! Don't buy it if you need the PROSE version.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Comment: Brand new as seller listed; still in plastic package.
fast delivery
great price!
saved probably $15 buying on here than buying at borders or barnes and noble.
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