Odyssey how many pages

But others say that Odysseus died of Old Age, as Tiresias predicted. Is Odysseus a God? He is not a god, but he does have a connection with the gods on his mother's side of the family. While on one hunting trip, Odysseus was gored by a wild boar, an incident that left a scar.

How long is Homer's Odyssey? The average reader will spend 2 hours and 48 minutes reading The Odyssey at WPM words per minute.

Who is Odysseus wife? What does the word odyssey mean? Odyssey is a Greek epic poem written by Homer about the long journey of a man named Odysseus, or a long and eventual journey or experience. A spiritual quest is an example of an odyssey. YourDictionary definition and usage example. Why is Poseidon so angry with Odysseus? Poseidon was furious with Odysseus and his crew because they blinded his son, the cyclops Polyphemus.

What are the first 4 books of the Odyssey called? Telemachy The voyage of Telemachus. Athena, disguised as Mentor, and Telemachus.

How did Telemachus die? The Telegony was a short two-book epic poem recounting the life and death of Odysseus after the events of the Odyssey. In this mythological postscript, Odysseus is accidentally killed by Telegonus, his unknown son by the goddess Circe.

I'm glad that I finally read this classic piece of work, and it's definitely understandable What can I say about this book that hasn't been said already? I'm glad that I finally read this classic piece of work, and it's definitely understandable that it's as famous as it is. As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Hope your road is a long one. Ithaka By C As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.

Ithaka By C. View all 20 comments. If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review. Representation of Human: "The Odyssey" by Homer translated by Robert Fitzgerald; read by Dan Stevens I humbly declare this book to be the greatest literary work of mankind. If you don't learn Greek worth it just to read this Meisterwerk, never mind the rest of the immortal trove of Greek literature you can read it in so many translations that have become classics in their own use of the English language, Fagles and Murray, just to m If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

If you don't learn Greek worth it just to read this Meisterwerk, never mind the rest of the immortal trove of Greek literature you can read it in so many translations that have become classics in their own use of the English language, Fagles and Murray, just to mention two. Oh, what the Hades, let's throw in a third, not just for its brilliant translation, but also owing to the exotic character behind it: no less than Lawrence of Arabia.

The Homeric poems were sung in a less-enlightened time, in comparison with the later Greek tragedies, and with the later epics too. Apollonius' Argonautica was composed, post Greek Tragedy, and his audience would have been, no doubt, familiar with Euripides' Medea.

Questions such as how justice and revenge affect societies were addressed by Aeschylus in the Oresteia; likewise, the reception of the anthropomorphic gods, and their pettiness, was raised by Euripides in Hippolytus and the Bacchae.

Furthermore, the real nature and brutality of warfare was also raised in the Trojan Women. Throw in how one state views another state, and questions of racial identity, and you have The Persians by Aeschylus, and Medea by Euripides. Additionally, if you include Philoctetes by Sophocles, and the issue of how youth should conduct themselves is also raised. If you consider, too, Ajax by Sophocles, and you find that the bloodthirsty myths of an earlier age are filtered through questions that C5 Athenian society faced.

What is better, the brute force of an unsophisticated Ajax, or the sophistry and rhetorical arguments of Odysseus in Ajax? By the time we arrive at Virgil, and The Aenied, brutal events such as the death of Priam by Neoptolemus in Aeneid Book II, are tempered with a more enlightened approach. Neoptolemus is condemned for killing Priam, and rightly so, as mercy is important, and exemplifies the Romanitas of 'Sparing the humble, and conquering the proud'.

If you're into Greek Literature, read on. View all 12 comments. I mean, it's no Ulysses. View all 4 comments. Audiobook read by Claire Danes.. I liked listening to Claire Danes I was fully engaged at the time View all 26 comments.

May 30, Roy Lotz rated it it was amazing Shelves: highly-recommended-favorites , best-words-best-order , oldie-but-goodie. It was on the Homeric Question. I was a sophomore in college—a student with unfortunate literary ambitions who had just decided to major in anthropology.

By this point, I had at least tacitly decided that I wanted to be a professor. In my future lay the vast and unexplored ocean of academia. What was the safest vessel to travel into that forbidden wine-dark sea?

I signed up for a reading project with an anthropology professor. Lucky for him, he was on the cusp of retirement. So his world-weariness manifested itself as a total, guilt-free indifference to his teaching duties. I envied a man that could apparently care so little about professional advancement.

In any case, now I had to come up with a research topic. I had just switched into the major, and so had little idea what typical anthropology research projects were like. And because my advisor was so indifferent, I received no guidance from him. The onus lay entirely on me. Who is Homer? Nobody knew. Nobody could know. The man—if man he was—was lost to the abyss of time. No trace of him existed. And yet, we have these glorious poems—poems at the center of our history, the roots of the Western literary canon.

That the person or persons responsible could be so totally lost to history baffled me—intrigued me. But I was not majoring in literature or the humanities. I was in anthropology, and so had to do a proper anthropological project.

At the very least, I needed an angle. Milman Parry and Albert Lord duly provided this angle. The two men were classicists—scholars of ancient Greece. But instead of staying in their musty offices reading dusty manuscripts, they did something no classicist had done before: they attempted to answer the Homeric question with field work.

At the time and perhaps now? But what was most fascinating was that these stories were apparently improvised. In our decadent culture, we have a warped idea of improvisation. Many of us believe improvisation to be the spontaneous outflowing of creative energies, manifesting themselves in something totally new. Like God shaping the Earth out of the infinite void, these imaginary improvisers shape their art from nothing whatsoever.

Unfortunately, this never happens. By carefully transcribing hundreds of these Serbo-Croation poems, they discovered that—although a single poem may vary from person to person, place to place, or performance to performance—the variation took place within predictable boundaries. Individual scenes, in turn, also followed stereotypical outlines—feasts, banquets, catalogues of forces, battles, athletic contests, etc.

Of course, this is not to say that the poet was not original. Rather, it is to say that they are just as original as John Coltrane or Charlie Parker—individuals working within a tradition. These formulas and stereotypical scenes were the raw material with which the poet worked. They allowed him to compose material quickly enough to keep up the performance, and not break his rhythm.

But could poems as long as The Odyssey and The Iliad come wholly from an oral tradition? It seems improbable: it would take multiple days to recite, and the bard would have to pick up where he left off.

But Milman and Parry, during their fieldwork, managed to put our fears at rest. I actually read one. All this is impressive, but one question remained: how could the oral poems get on paper? Did an oral poet—Homer, presumably—learn to write, and copy it down? According to him, once a person becomes literate, the frame of mind required to learn the art of oral poetry cannot be achieved. According to Lord, this left only one option: Homer must have been a master oral poet, and his poems must have been transcribed by someone else.

This is how the aforementioned poem by Avdo was taken down by the researchers. At the time, this struck me as perfectly likely—indeed, almost certain. But the more I think about it, the less I can imagine an oral poet submitting himself to sit with a scribe, writing in the cumbersome Linear B script, for the dozens and dozens of hours it would have taken to transcribe these poems.

An anthropologist, Finnegan found many cases in Africa of semi-literate or fully literate people who remained capable of improvising poetry. For me, and everyone alive in the Western world today, The Odyssey is flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. Marvelously sophisticated, fantastically exciting, it is the alpha and omega of our tradition.

From Homer we sprang, and unto Homer shall we return. Lucky for me, the Fagles translation a nice one if you're looking for readability is available as an audiobook, narrated by the great Sir Ian McKellen. It was a wonderful experience, not only because Sir Ian has such a beautiful voice he's Gandalf, after all , but because hearing it read rather than reading it recreated, however dimly, the original experience of the poem: as a performance.

I highly recommend it. View all 27 comments. Jul 27, J. It's funny how many people feel intimidated by this book. Sure, it's thousands of years old, and certainly Greek culture has some peculiarities, but the book is remarkably, sometimes surprisingly modern, and most translations show the straightforward simplicity of the story. Perhaps like The Seventh Seal, The Odyssey has gotten a reputation for being difficult because it has been embraced by intellectuals and worse, wanna-be intellectuals.

But like Bergman's classic film, The Odyssey is focused o It's funny how many people feel intimidated by this book. But like Bergman's classic film, The Odyssey is focused on action, low humor, and vivid characters, not complex symbolism and pretension.

It shouldn't really surprise us how modern the story seems, from it's fast-paced action to its non-linear story: authors have taken cues from it for thousands of years, and continue to take inspiration from it today. Any story of small people, everyday heroes, and domestic life we read today is only a few steps removed from Odysseus' tale. Unlike the Iliad, this book is not focused on grand ideas or a grand stage. The characters do not base their actions on heroic ideals but on their emotions, their pains and joys, their grumbling bellies.

It is less concerned with the fate of nations than the state of the family and friendship. Since the story turns on whims instead of heroic ideals, it is much less focused than the Iliad, meandering from here to there in a series of unconnected vignettes drawn from the mythic tradition.

Like The Bible, it is a combination of stories, but without a philosophical focus. There are numerous recurring themes that while not concluded, are certainly explored. The most obvious of these may be the tradition of keeping guests in Greece.

The most honorable provide their guests with feasts, festivals, and gifts. This seems mostly the effect of a noblesse oblige among the ruling class.

Like the codes of war or the class system, it is a social structure which benefits their rulership. Like the palace of Versailles of Louis XIV, keeping someone as a guest was a way to keep an eye on them and to provide camaraderie and mutual reliance amongst the fractitious ruling class. The second theme is that of 'metis', represented by Odysseus himself.

Metis is the Greek term for cunning. It is a quick-witted cleverness that is sometimes considered charming and other times deceitful. Achilles tells Odysseys in the Iliad that he resents the clever man's entreaties, and those of any man who says one thing but thinks another.

Odysseus later mimics this sentiment as part of an elaborate lie to gain the trust of another man. Such are the winding ways of our hero. He misleads his son, his wife, his servants, and his despondent father after his return, careful not to overplay his hand in a dangerous situation, arriving as a stranger.

Each of these prevarications can be seen sometimes as cruel, but each deception has a reasoning behind it. He uses his stories to carefully prepare his listeners for his return, instead of springing it upon them unwarned. He ensures that he will be received upon the most profitable terms, though he also enjoys the game of it all.

These acts of sudden, cruel cleverness are not uncommon in epics and adventure tales. One tale of Viking raiders tells of how, after sailing into the Mediterranean, their ship reached one of the cities of the Roman Empire. Though just a small outpost, the Viking chief thought it was Rome itself, since its stone buildings towered over the farms of his homeland. He hid in a coffin with a wealth of swords and had his soldiers bear him into the town, telling the inhabitants they wished to make burial rights for their dead king.

When they were let in, the coffin was opened, the swords passed around, and the city sacked. What is curious is that while warriors like the Greeks or Vikings maintained a strict sense of honor and honesty, this kind of trick was not only common in their stories, but admired.

The honor of the battlefield does not extend to the Trojan Horse Odysseus' idea or to the tale of Sinon in the Aeneid. The rule seems to be that if the tricks played are grand and clever enough, they are allowed, while small, mean pranks and betrayals are not. Not all the soldiers agree what is outsmarting and what is dishonorable Achilles puts Odysseus in the latter camp , but there is a give and take there. What is most remarkable about Odysseus is not merely that he comes up with these tricks, but that he passes them off on proud, honorable men without incurring their wrath.

Moreover, he does all this while having a famous reputation for being tricky. You'd think he'd get an intentional walk now and then. Odysseus was not as strong a character as Achilles or Hector were in the Iliad, though this may be because he was a complex character who did not rely on the cliche characterizations of 'the noble warrior'. He is not a man with a bad temper, nor a good one. He is a competent and powerful warrior and leader, but those are not his defining characteristics, either.

Odysseus represents the Greek ideal of 'arete' as well as metis. Arete is the idea that a man who is truly great should excel in all things, not merely concentrate on one area of life. Even raging Achilles showed the depth of his arete in the Iliad when he served as host and master of the games. He was capable of nobility, sound judgment, and generosity, even if he didn't always put his best foot forward.

Odysseus is likewise skilled in both war and domesticity, in the sword and politics, and he's clever and wily to boot. In the end, there isn't much room left over for negative character traits, which is what makes him feel a bit flat. What makes people interesting as individuals is not their best traits, but their worst.

For Odysseus, this is his pride. After spending twenty years of his life away at war, leaving his wife and infant son behind, it's not surprising that he wants to return home with wealth and with his name on the lips of poets and minstrels. Between his pride, his easy smile, and his quick wit, he is the model for the modern action hero. He is not merely some chivalric picture of goodness, nor simply mighty and overwhelming, but a conflicted man with a wry sense of humor and above all, a will to survive.

Don't read this book simply because it is old, influential, and considered great. Read it because it is exciting and approachable and thoughtful. Even without all the reputation, it can stand on its own.

I read the Fagles translation, which was enjoyable and often lovely, though some modern idioms did slip in here and there. The Knox intro rehashes a lot of the introduction to The Iliad, but it's still very useful. Shelves: favorites , translated , religion , r-r-rs , epics , philosophy , spiritual , classics , history-civilizations , epic-stuff. I started this as I was told it is essential reading if I ever want to give a shot at reading Ulysses. I was a bit apprehensive and spent a long time deciding on which translation to choose.

Finally it was Stephen's review that convinced me to go for the Robert Fagles ' version. I have no way of judging how good a decision that was. This was of course not the first font of Greek type; in fact, the first printed edition of Homer, issued in Florence in , was composed in type that imitated contemporary Greek handwriting, with all its complicated ligatures and abbreviations.

Early printers tried to make their books look like handwritten manuscripts because in scholarly circles printed books were regarded as vulgar and inferior products — cheap paperbacks, so to speak. First up, I enjoyed the book, even the droll parts. It was fun to repeatedly read Odysseus's laments and Telemachus' airy threats about the marauding suitors.

But now that I have finished it, how do I attempt a review? What can I possibly say about an epic like this that has not been said before? To conclude by saying that it was wonderful would be a disservice. To analyse it would be too self-important and to summarize it would be laughable. Nevertheless, I thought of giving a sort of moral summary of the story and then abandoned that. I then considered writing about the many comparisons it evoked it my mind about the Indian epics that I have grown up with, but I felt out of my depth since I have not even read the Iliad yet.

With all those attempts having failed, I am left with just repeating again that it was much more enjoyable than I expected. That is not to say that it was an epic adventure with no dull moments. The characters repeat themselves in dialogue and in attitude, all major dramatic points are revealed in advance as prophesy and every important story event is told again at various points by various characters.

Even though I avoided it as much as I can, I could not at times avoid contrasting my reading experience with that of the epics I have grown up with and I remember thinking to myself that in comparison this reads like a short story or a novella. Maybe this impression is because I am largely yet unaware of the large mythical structure on which the story is built. I intend to allay that deficiency soon. The characters are unforgettable, the situations are legendary and I am truly happy that I finally got around to a full reading of this magnificent epic.

It has opened up a new world. View all 33 comments. The founding novel of literature, the one that will inspire all future narratives. We know the story of Ulysses; we have read a few episodes, seen a film but read the whole work, with these long chapters, the Homeric epithets and the long descriptions of the marine world with its monsters and demons.

One has the impression of attending a closed session on the sea, and yet, Ulysses only berths to better take to the sea as if the mainland was not only forbidden to him but also harmful as if his co The founding novel of literature, the one that will inspire all future narratives.

One has the impression of attending a closed session on the sea, and yet, Ulysses only berths to better take to the sea as if the mainland was not only forbidden to him but also harmful as if his condemnation to wandering on the sea was more beneficial on the water than on land. And then there are the episodes worthy of an adventure novel, the Sirens, symbols of literary song, the voice of the author who takes us where we want and can destroy us hey, Bovary Finally, and this is surprising, we talk more about the others, about Telemachus, her son who is looking for him, about Penelope who is waiting for her than about him who wants to come back.

The novel has almost everything: the search for the other, the quest, the song of words, the pleasure of returning home. It is as enjoyable to study and understand it, so full of symbols as it is to read it. View 2 comments. Aug 07, James rated it really liked it Shelves: 3-written-preth-century , 1-fiction.

I was tasked with reading this epic work as part of an Advanced Placement English course in between my junior and senior years of high school. I loved literature back then as much as I do now, and my reading habits probably grew from everything my teachers encouraged us to read during the summer hiatus and mid-year breaks. We sampled literature from all over the world, and this Greek tome was on Book Review 4 out of 5 stars to The Odyssey , published around BC and written by Homer.

We sampled literature from all over the world, and this Greek tome was one of the many we read. We only read certain sections, as it's over pages long, but I finished it on my own over winter break that year. It often depends on the translation version you read, as it might make it better or worse for you. I don't recall which one the teacher selected, but it must have been good as I did my quarterly papers on both this book and Homer's other work, The Iliad. The Odyssey was an amazing tale of a journey through the famed Trojan Wars in ancient Greece.

Meeting all the gods and goddesses, understanding the genealogy and family structure, the plots between all their shenanigans and games The only part I found a bit dull was when it truly went into war-time battle descriptions, as reading details about fighting is not typically something I enjoy. But the soap opera-like quality of these characters cum deity realities was just absorbing fun. The lyrics and the words fly off the pages. The images and the metaphors are pretty.

And if you know enough about Greek history, you almost feel as if you're in the story. About Me For those new to me or my reviews I write A LOT. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Trojan War is ended and the Greeks are returning home with victory and their loot. But the homecoming is not so easy, for they have to struggle with their fate and the wrath of the Olympian gods they incurred.

This is greater so for Odysseus, the greek warrior from Ithaca who played a key role in the Trojan War. His fate assures his return but his sudden incurring the wrath of Poseidon the sea god makes that returning almost perilous. Odysseus faces many adventures on his journey home which te Trojan War is ended and the Greeks are returning home with victory and their loot. Odysseus faces many adventures on his journey home which tests his strength and courage, and on his return, finds his household in greater calamity.

It is this tale of Odysseus that Homer recounts in The Odyssey. The many adventures Odysseus faces on his return journey were quite daunting and perilous. They try his strength of mind. But Odysseus is resourceful and cunning, and although he despairs at times, his steadfast courage sees him through the journey back home and restores his position as the king of Ithaca.

Odysseus is a story of faith, courage, endurance, and strength of mind to fight all obstacles and attain your desired end. One can say to that extent, Homer's story is quite inspirational. But the beauty of this epic poem is its quality as a work of art. It is both picturesque and dramatic with a touch of fantasy. Homer takes us to a fantastic world through Odysseus's voyage home, and we meet so many mythological characters - gods, men, and other creatures included.

Odysseus's adventures are interesting to read. I enjoyed the journey Homer took me through this tale very much. The prosaic translation I read contributed much to my enjoyment of this epic poem. It was an easy read and not too modern in the language which suited the antiquity of this Homeric tale.

This reading taught me the importance of using the correct translation to match one's temperament. I enjoyed this work of Homer very much, something I couldn't say of The Iliad. And now I know where to lay the blame.

View all 11 comments. Aug 03, [P] rated it it was amazing Shelves: bitchin. My parents split when I was very young. The arrangement they made between them was that my brother and I would spend the weekends with our father, but would live, during the week, with my mother. One winter, when I was ten years old, it started to snow heavily and gave no indication of stopping any time soon. The snow, however, had other ideas. To go home we had to catch two buses. The first My parents split when I was very young.

The first was running late, but, otherwise, the ride, although slow, was pretty uneventful. It was then that things started to go awry. How long was the Trojan War? How old is Homer's Odyssey? The Odyssey, attributed to Homer, is commonly dated to around BC, written on the author's home Iona, now the oceanside coast of Turkey.

Interestingly, there are some who feel that the story actually comes from around That's almost years older than previously thought. What is the longest book in the world? Remembrance of Things Past. How much is the Odyssey? I'm in no way a scholar of it, can't read ancient Greek, etc. In Stock. Top Selected Products and Reviews. What is the odyssey known for? The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus known as Ulysses in Roman myths , king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy.

It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. Was Ithaca a real place?