The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation)

From Stephen Mitchell, the renowned translator whose Iliad was named one of The New Yorker 's Favorite Books of 2011, comes a vivid new translation of the Odyssey , complete with textual notes and an illuminating introductory essay. The hardcover publication of the Odyssey received glowing reviews: The New York Times praised "Mitchell's fresh, elegant diction and the care he lavishes on meter, [which] brought me closer to the transfigurative experience Keats describes on reading Chapman's Homer"; Booklist , in a starred review, said that "Mitchell retells the first, still greatest adventure story in Western literature with clarity, sweep, and force"; and John Banville, author of The Sea , called this translation "a masterpiece." The Odyssey is the original hero's journey, an epic voyage into the unknown, and has inspired other creative work for millennia. With its consummately modern hero, full of guile and wit, always prepared to reinvent himself in order to realize his heart's desire—to return to his home and family after ten years of war—the Odyssey now speaks to us again across 2,600 years. In words of great poetic power, this translation brings Odysseus and his adventures to life as never before. Stephen Mitchell's language keeps the diction close to spoken English, yet its rhythms recreate the oceanic surge of the ancient Greek. Full of imagination and light, beauty and humor, this Odyssey carries you along in a fast stream of action and imagery. Just as Mitchell "re-energised the Iliad for a new generation" ( The Sunday Telegraph ), his Odyssey is the noblest, clearest, and most captivating rendition of one of the defining masterpieces of Western literature.

A brilliant new version of the Odyssey from one of the most accomplished translators of our time.

Stephen Mitchell’s Iliad caused a stir on its publication and was chosen as one of the New Yorker’s favorite books for 2011. Now Mitchell brings his vivid poetic power to the Odyssey, the original epic voyage into the unknown that has inspired other creative work for millennia—from ancient poems to modern fiction and movies. With its consummately modern hero, full of guile and wit, always prepared to reinvent himself, the Odyssey is perfectly suited to our times. Mitchell’s translation brings it to life for those who have never read it before or have tried and given up.

Twentieth-century translators of the Odyssey were either too literal or overreached for poetic effects, which produced awkward syntax and made the story hard to follow. Mitchell’s version keeps the syntax straightforward and the diction close to spoken English, yet his meter re-creates the oceanic music of the ancient Greek. In addition, this is the first translation to benefit from advances in modern textual scholarship.

Just as Mitchell “re-energized the Iliad for a new generation” (The Sunday Telegraph), in his Odyssey he has created the noblest, clearest, and most captivating rendition of one of the defining masterpieces of Western literature.

The Odyssey (/ˈɒdəsi/; Greek: Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. Scholars believe it was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia. - [Wikipedia][1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey A new translation of Homer's work of "one-eyed man-eating giants; irresistibly seductive sirens; shipwrecks and narrow escapes; princesses and monsters; ghosts sipping blood at the Underworld's portal, desperate for a chance to speak to the living; and the final destruction of all of Odysseus's enemies in the banquet hall"--Dust jacket flap