The Odyssey - (Penguin Clothbound Classics) by Homer (Hardcover)

About the Book

The epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats--shipwrecks, battles, monsters and the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon--Odysseus must test his bravery and native cunning to the full if he is to reach his homeland safely and overcome the obstacles that, even there, await him. E. V. Rieu's translation of the Odyssey was the very first Penguin Classic to be published. For this edition, Rieu's text has been revised, and a new introduction by Peter Jones complements the original introduction.

Book Synopsis

Homer's classic epic of survival, revenge, and homecoming, translated by E.V. Rieu, now in a stunning clothbound edition designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, and featuring an Introduction by Peter V. Jones.

The epic tale of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War, one of the earliest and greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats--shipwrecks, battles, monsters, and the implacable enmity of the sea god Poseidon--Odysseus must use his wit and native cunning if he is to reach his homeland of Ithaca safely and overcome the obstacles that, even there, await him.

Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing 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.

Review Quotes

"[Robert Fitzgerald's translation is] a masterpiece . . . An Odyssey worthy of the original." -The Nation

"[Fitzgerald's Odyssey and Iliad] open up once more the unique greatness of Homer's art at the level above the formula; yet at the same time they do not neglect the brilliant texture of Homeric verse at the level of the line and the phrase." -The Yale Review

"[In] Robert Fitzgerald's translation . . . there is no anxious straining after mighty effects, but rather a constant readiness for what the occasion demands, a kind of Odyssean adequacy to the task in hand, and this line-by-line vigilance builds up into a completely credible imagined world."
-from the Introduction by Seamus Heaney

About the Author

HOMER is thought to have lived c.750-700 BC in Ionia and is believed to be the author of the earliest works of Western Literature: The Odyssey and The Iliad. E. V. RIEU was a celebrated translator from Latin and Greek, and editor of Penguin Classics from 1944-64. His son, D. C. H. RIEU, has revised his work. PETER JONES is former lecturer in Classics at Newcastle. He co-founded the 'Friends of Classics' society and is the editor of their journal and a columnist for The Spectator.