The Odyssey: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Penguin Classics Hardcover)
Table of Contents: The Odyssey Introduction IntroductionThe Spelling and Pronunciation of Homeris NamesMaps: 1. Homeric Geography: Mainland Greece2. Homeric Geography: The Peloponnese3. Homeric Geography: The Aegean and Asia Minor Homer: The OdysseyBook 1: Athena Inspires...
|
Table of Contents: Introduction Homer: The Odyssey Notes Marc Notes: Copyright date 1996.;Includes bibliographical references (p. 517-520).;Translated by Robert Fagles, and with an introduction and notes by Bernard Knox, the team who collaborated on the award-winning edition of Homer's The Iliad, The Odyssey is Homer's classic account of the great wanderings of Odysseus.;Translated from the ancient Greek. Brief Description: Originally published: London: Viking, 1996. Review Quotes: Praise for Robert Fagles Translation of The Odyssey "Wonderfully readable... Just the right blend of roughness and sophistication."--Ted Hughes "Robert Fagles is the best living translator of ancient Greek drama, lyric poetry, and epic into modern English."--Garry Wills, The New Yorker "Mr. Fagles has been remarkably successful in finding a style that is of our time and yet timeless."--Richard Jenkyns, The New York Times Book Review Biographical Note: Homer was the poet who the Greeks believed singularly composed The Iliad and The Odyssey. Nothing is known of his life. While seven Greek cities claim the honor of being his birthplace, ancient tradition places him in Ionia, located in the eastern Aegean coast. His birthdate is undocumented as well, though most modern scholars place the composition of The Iliad and The Odyssey in the late eighth or early seventh century B.C. Robert Fagles (1933-2008) was the Arthur W. Marks '19 Professor of Comparative Literature, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He received a National Humanities Medal in 2006 and won the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from The Academy of American Poets twice, once for Homer's The Iliad in 1991 and then again in 2007 for The Aeneid. His translations of Sophocles's The Three Theban Plays, Aeschylus's The Oresteia (nominated for a National Book Award), The Iliad (which also won an award from The Translation Center of Columbia University), and Homer's The Odyssey are all published in Penguin Classics. Bernard Knox (1914-2010) was Director Emeritus of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C. He won the 1976-77 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism and the 1990 PEN/Spielvogel-Diamonstein Award for Essays Ancient and Modern. Knox fought in the Spanish Civil War and World War II; France decorated him with the Croix de Guerre for special operations behind German lines in 1944, and the US Army awarded him two Bronze Stars for combat in Italy. He also edited The Norton Book of Classical Literature, and collaborated with Robert Fagles on The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and The Three Theban Plays. Publisher Marketing: By its evocation of a real or imaged heroic age, its contrasts of character and its variety of adventure, above all by its sheer narrative power, the Odyssey has won and preserved its place among the greatest tales in the world. It tells of Odysseus' adventurous wanderings as he returns from the long war at Troy to his home in the Greek island of Ithaca, where his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus have been waiting for him for twenty years. He meets a one-eyed giant, Polyphemus the Cyclops; he visits the underworld; he faces the terrible monsters Scylla and Charybdis; he extricates himself from the charms of Circe and Calypso. After these and numerous other legendary encounters he finally reaches home, where, disguised as a beggar, he begins to plan revenge on the suitors who have for years been besieging Penelope and feasting on his own meat and wine with insolent impunity. Publisher Marketing: Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. A Penguin Classics Hardcover So begins Robert Fagles's magnificent translation of The Odyssey, literature's grandest evocation of an everyman's journey through life. Odysseus's reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival against divine and natural forces on his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance. Robert Fagles's translation of The Odyssey, enhanced with maps, genealogy tables, and pronunciation guides, has been the touchstone translation of Homer's epic for millions of readers. With an introduction and textual commentary by renowned classicist Bernard Knox, the Fagles translation of The Odyssey will continue to captivate the general reader and scholar alike. Penguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. |
