The Odyssey

This book is so good! I've never read any Greek literature and with this one, there will be many titles to read. And thanks to the author who made the best of this translation from Greek to English!

Many people are saying the way the pages look (not perfectly aligned) is bad... but that's how a lot of books are bound in this day and age. I can see why someone who is obsessed with the Odyssey and is a book snob would be upset because it wouldn't match the other books on their shelf aesthetic-wise. Some books I saw cam missing parts/starting in the wrong spot... mine is perfectly fine! No idea why that happened to a few people's books... just contact the seller to get a new one! I needed this class for a western lit class in college and books are so SO SO expensive so to pay $8 for a $20.00 book is beyond me amazing. The Emily Wilson translation has brought me to tears. Out of all the translations... this is the first one translated by a female. That's crazy. And it's important you know that because a key aspect of The Odyssey and Greek mythology is women being powerful and dominant... Emily's translation is in no way a feminist translation... but because she is a female her bias is put aside and she tells the story as it is. And if you miss that then you are reading the book through a lens that maybe you should do some inner reflection on. This translation actually makes sense... it's straightforward. So for college students trying to learn about greek mythology and about the origin of storytelling... this is the perfect translation. So many people were upset because they were comparing it to other translations. But perhaps they shouldn't compare and instead, see all the beauty and unique features that Emily Wilson brings to the table. Did you know that Robert Fagles was only a linguist... and NOT a writer. Emily Wilson is a linguist AND a poet. She knows writing. She tells the story. And it's done so well. Just do it. But the book for school. I hope you see this comment and trust me when I say you won't find a cheaper version of this work of art.

I’ve read the Odyssey several times dating back to high school over 50 years ago. Emily Wilson’s translation makes reading the epic very enjoyable! Her introduction is very detailed, and I became a bit impatient to get to the text. I might suggest reading the original text first, then the intro, and then reread the Odyssey if one has sufficient time to do so.

It's a great pairing with the Illiad.

Beautiful translation and very easy to read.I enjoyed Emily Wilson’s writing of The Odyssey, the Introduction being the most informative.Four stars because I thought the language and use of certain phrases and words were too contemporary for the time of the epic

First - a confession. I studied Latin but not Classical Greek. But that said I have read Homer in many different translations. Some are literary works. The translation of "The Iliad" by Robert Fagles is raw, brutal, bloody and violent. Peter Green's "Odyssesy" was a joy to read until I came to Emily Wilson's translation. I first read about this in the London Review of books in which Ms Wilson wrote of the challenges of translation, giving examples. It is always a good idea to start at the beginning and she gave one of the transaltion difficulties in the description of Odysseus that appears in the first line.But what a joy to read her translation - it has a different feel to it - dare I say a woman's touch - and it is lyrical and flowing in the same way that it might have fallen from the lips of the narrator.There was a TV mini-series some time ago starring Armand Assante as Odysseus. In that rendering the scene in the hall when Odysseus strings the bow and shoots the arrow throuigh the line of axes is brilliantly rendered and for me that is the "go to" piece in translation. The build up and the atmosphere is woinderfully done. The revelation is stunning. In that scene, indeed thougout the whole of her work, Ms Wilson puts the arrow of her translation accurately and beautifulkly through the line of axes. Highly recommended

In high school and college, I had been assigned extracts from Homer, translated in stiff and stuffy styles. I was not impressed. I did not pursue his books further further until I read about this new translation by Emily Wilson. It was worth the wait.Wilson’s text reads well while retaining a poetic style in translation, a major achievement in itself. Even better, she does so while avoiding the masculine-centered assumptions of other translators. This does not mean changing Homer, who wrote in and about a patriarchal world, but instead trying to see the women as Homer did, and not as a Victorian Englishman would. (I exaggerate, but you get the idea.)You can see Wilson’s perspectives in her extensive introduction, most of which you can see in Amazon’s “Look Inside!” feature. Unfortunately, you can’t preview her “Translator’s Note,” which explains her decisions about style and other matters. The introduction includes passages from her translation, so read those and see what you think.I read the book on Kindle, and it worked well as an epic narrative. Some reviewers object to Wilson’s style because they don’t like how it sounds when read aloud. Sample some excerpts on the page and out loud and see what works for you. Wilson’s translation is grammatically simpler than those in the critical reviewers’ preferred translations, so try comparing those. The style feels somewhat like a Germanic epic to me, which suggests connections to a shared Proto Indo-European style lost to history.It’s possible that the critical reviewers prefer stuffy translations, and they may prefer them as a matter of English style or as a matter of Homeric Greek (which I don’t read). Read some of the three-star reviews before making a decision. I certainly found this translation a great read.

High quality material; lovely book; gift to classical studies student; highly recommend the author's books;