THE ODYSSEY - BOOK SUGGESTION

CLASSIC COMEBACK 

THE ODYSSEY BY HOMER

“Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep,
even so I will endure…
For already have I suffered full much,
and much have I toiled in perils of waves and war.
Let this be added to the tale of those.” 

2003 EDITION COVER by
 PENGUIN CLASSICS

― Homer, The Odyssey

'The Odyssey' is one of the two epic Greek poems attributed to Homer. It is a sequel to 'Ilaid' .The poem is the second oldest work of western literature where 'Ilaid' is considered the first.
The scholars believe it was composed at the end of 8th century.Robert Fagles translated this and is considered as masterpiece by critics.

The epic tale of Odysseys and his ten years journey home after the Trojan war forms one of the earliest and greatest works of literature.With wit and wile, the man of twists and turns meets the challenges of sea god Poseidon and ship wrecks, battles, monsters.Only to return after twenty years to home and besieged by his wife's suitors who competes for Penelope's hand in marriage .Then Athene goddess pays a visit to Telemachos, son of Odysseys and tells him to go search his father. and the story continues. The book is divided into many parts as such book 1 to book 24. The identity or even the existence of Homer itself is mystery. With no reliable biographical information being survived.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HOMER

Homer's ancestry can be traced from Odyssey. He was the son of Epikaste and Telemachus. Born around 8th - 9th century B.C. he was said to be a court singer and a story teller. Even if these details about Homer are available, not much is know about him. In fact his existence is somewhat doubted. Some say he was born on the island of Chios while argue that he existed in Ionia. But the dialect and the description in the poems pointed that Homer lived in Ionia.

As Homer was non-literate how these poems were written are arguable. Perhaps, he dictated his poems to a scribe who wrote them. The Greek alphabet was also introduced around the 8th century so Homer must have been among the first rhapsodes who were literate.

Homer's famous epics:

• ILAID
• THE ODYSSEY