The Odyssey
CRITIQUE | QUOTES | TRANSLATIONS
The Whole Works of Homer, trans. Chapman, first edition, 1616First publication
c.800 BCE
Literature form
Poem
Genres
Epic poetry
Writing language
Ancient Greece
Author's country
Greece
Length
24 chapters, approx. 12,000 words
Notable lines
Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven
far journeys, after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel.
— First lines, trans. Lattimore
It is hateful to me
to tell a story over again,
when it has been well told.
— trans. Lattimore
"No winning words about death to me, shining Odysseus!
By god, I'd rather slave on earth for another man—
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—
than rule down here over all the breathless dead."
— trans. Fagles
Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
— trans. Fagles
And pledges for the days to come, sworn by both sides,
were settled by Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus of the aegis,
who had likened herself in appearance and voice to Mentor.
— Last lines, trans. Lattimore
CRITIQUE | QUOTES | TRANSLATIONS
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Buy the book:
The Odyssey, Fagles translation
The Odyssey, Lattimore translation
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