The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation

i recommend this book because you can learn more about life and do friends. i recommended because they teach that you never gona win, that you have to learn to loose and talk with the people that won against you. And that you have to do friend of that person or don't get mad with that people and always be firendly.

First the Iliad, then The Odyssey. Both epics are essential to understand the western civilization in its origins. Of course, they are not easy reading. One not accustomed to verse might find both epics boring. However, if you are willing to know why all classics writers mentioned them as precious jewels that inspired them, there's no other way than going through their pages. For me it was hard at the beginning, but after a while, I was not able to leave the story/history behind. Like most things, first things first! And both the Iliad and the Odyssey must be read.

Prior to my freshman year at high school, I had high hopes for the required reading in my English class. I had enjoyed many of the works read during middle school as well as elementary school, and I thought 9th grade would be no different. I sure was wrong. Very wrong.

Homer's Odyssey is one of the worst books I have ever read in my life. This book is very, very boring. Many of you who do not know me, probably think I am a teenager who can't sit still, and that I have to take some drug to keep me from tearing my house down. You are very wrong. I'm not a teenager who can't sit still, but I am a teenager who can't stand bad books!

The Odyssey is somewhat like a fantasy novel, where many of the characters have super powers, and a lot of the events that happen aren't actually possible in the real world. Now, don't get me wrong, I love many books that aren't realistic, mostly science fiction, but this book is outrageously stupid! Greek society lived in some kind of fantasy world where gods looked down on them and determined what happened in the world. As an atheist, I can't stand this kind of thinking.

In general, epic novels are horrible, especially this one. As I said at the beginning of my review, The Odyssey by Homer is one of the worst books I have ever read.

There is no doubt that this work had one of the greatest, if not the greatest impact on western literature.

Name any book and you can see elements in which that book is portrayed within The Odyssey.

The story takes place some time after the Iliad in which suitors overrun the home of the brave tactician Odysseus. His son, Telemakhos has no recollection of his father since the day he was born was the day that he left to fight the Trojan War. The beautiful wife of Odysseus, Penelope remains steadfast and faithful even though her home is flooded with the most eligible of bachelors. His son had grown to manhood but still not a true man since he grew up without his father guidance. At that time, Athena comes to him in form of a human to help him on his way and suggest he leaves to find news of his father and to be out of harms way because the suitors plan to attack him.

During this time his father is trapped on the island of the beautiful nymph which he "reluctantly" beds and but is soon freed by the god Hermes.

The rest tells the tales of how Odysseus returns home. Odysseus tells the story that takes place beforehand through storytelling.

Odysseus is the pinnacle of Greek heroes. But his character does have it flaws. Odysseus also willingly beds down with not one but two beautiful goddesses during his travels and expresses little remorse for his infidelities - though he rails against the suitors who are trying to capture his wife. But he is blessed with both strength and brains. There is no better "improviser" or "strategist" in Greek mythology, though the label attached is often "cunning" or "deceiver"; indeed, many Greeks saw Odysseus' habit of lying as a vice and a weakness. His penchant for disguise complements his ability to make up plausible stories about his background. Although Odysseus' ingenuity comes across as his chief weapon, his Achilles' heel of sorts is the frequency with which he falls victim to temptation and makes grave tactical errors, none more so than when adding insult to injury to Polyphemos and revealing his true name. Still, Odysseus is aware of this flaw, and bids his men to tie him up when they pass by the Seirenes, the paragons of temptation. By the end of his journey, he has learned to resist temptation, willingly suffering abuse by the suitors to meet his eventual goal of destroying them.

At the end, (not to give it away) poetic justice is served. But you knew that.

The Odyssey is one of the finest pieces of literature ever written. To put Homer's text in perspective, it is Shakspeare's parallel. Heroic characters with unwavering values, avengers of love, and a quest with danger, monsters, and mythical beings are a few of the elements that enabled The Odyssey to survive over three thousand years. This piece of work enticed my mind and the flow of words is incredible. This story takes the reader through the tribulations of each character. I would suggest The Odyssey to all kinds of readers; it is not stereotypical of any one person. I was required to read this book in my 8th grade class, and I was lucky to have read it before. Reading it again in a different environment in which we discussed and evaluated the book made it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend this book and find out why it has lasted all these years.