The Odyssey

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Summary: Fitzgerald's Odyssey: accurate, readable, fantastic.
Review: Most translations of the Odyssey suffer from stilted English, Victorian hang-overs, and weak attempts to bring the Greek verse into English. I struggled with the original in high school and never appreciated the dactylic hexameter at the time. But Fitzgerald makes the epic come alive in energetic images that work as vivid English. His translation is more accurate than others: his text reads much closer to the original word-to-word, but even more importantly in spirit and feeling. Homer comes through, the lament of the lonely, the lost, yearning for home, struggling to overcome every obstacle. This is a universal story, timeless, intense, entertaining, fantastic

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Summary: Truly inspired by the Muses
Review: Magnificent! A wonderful and beautiful translation of Homer's epic into English. I read this for my undergraduate study in classical literature and now I look forward to reading Fitzgerald's translation of the Iliad. I highly recommend this as one of the best. Truly, Fitzgerald was inspired by the Muses when he translated this timeless work

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Summary: Do not read it. Know it instead.
Review: It must be said that for obvious reasons it can not be done. The translation of the massive POEM into English simply looses whatever feel it has when rendered into the english language. Hence, all versions of The Odyssey are very hard to read. Hard in that the conversion is really whatever the translators did this time to it. There are so many versions of this text and none of them work, but some are better than others for obvious reasons.

To be honest maybe direct translation of some of the better parts should be leared but you are much better off just KNOWING THE ODYSSEY which is X 100 more important than READING THE ODYSSEY.

This book is best left not read simply because it is in ENGLISH. You would do better to hear someone tell you story if they know it well.

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Summary: If you haven't read it you've not yet fully lived.
Review: This is a magical book. I read it to my son and he asked me to read it to him over and over. He loved the part about about Polyphemus the Cyclops. It is a book full of stories rich with the ages. If you look into the Heavens on a starry night many of the constellations are from this dynamic book written in the pre-Christian era filled with all the Greek Gods running amok with the emotions and fates of man. This too is a favorite book of mine.

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Summary: A Wonderful & Classic Poem
Review: I just recieved this book yesturday and I must say that it is a wonderful epic poem. Im taking a Classical Humanities Course in college and im reading The Iliad which is also another wonderful epic poem by Homer. The Copy of The Iliad that i have is also translated by Robert Fitzgerald, and its truely amazing and wonderful. Since i'm almost done with The Iliad I figured that i should know the 2nd part which is The Odyssey. So last night I read the first book in the odyssey and i absolutely fell in love with it just like i did with The Iliad. As I was telling a friend of mine, there is a reason for these wonderful pieces of literature to still be around today. These two epic poems (The Iliad & The Odyssey) are timeless and will never fade. Anyways back to my review of The Odyssey. This is a wonderful epic poem, and it is a wonderful conclusion to The Iliad. Robert Fitzgerald is a master of his craft and his translation is simplely wonderful. The words flow nicely together and the scenes, setting, and conversations between the Gods & Goddesses makes it seem like your there with them. The Imagrey used is wonderful and the poem is such a delight to read. If anyone is interested in Greek Mythology or a wonderful timeless epic poem than you should read The odyssey. If you want to know the full story of how everything got started than you should also read The Iliad. Also if you just want something nice to read than you should read The Odyssey. This is a wonderful epic poem and there's a reason why it is still around today, the reason is that it's a wonderful piece of work along with The Iliad.

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Summary: A classic that has endured the test of time
Review: The Odyssey is an intriguing epic that defines what it is to be a human being. It is interesting because it involves both mythology and the realities of the human condition; while mythological figures can do whatever they want because they are immortal, humans must be careful in everything they do because life is limited and they must make the most out of it. Since the themes of The Odyssey are so timeless, there are echoes of the epic in such works as Shakespeare and the Bible.
Unlike the gods, humans cannot be faithless in their marriages because it was important in Greek society to know who one's children were. The gods, on the other hand, are allowed the freedom to be disloyal to each other without consequences; this was one of the major fears in Ancient Greece and is one of the themes in the story. Klytemnestra is not loyal to her husband Agamemnon, and the goddess Aphrodite has an affair with Ares instead of being faithful to her husband, Hephaistos. While nothing happened when Ares cheated on Hephaistos, there are major consequences when Clytemnestra cheats on her husband, Aigishos. Her lover Aigisthos kills her husband Agamemnon when he returns from the war, which causes disorder in the house. Agamemnon's son, Orestes, later avenges his father by killing both his mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aigisthos. This is an example of how a mortal love affair can ruin a family. Keeping this fear of infidelity in mind, there is the question about Penelope's faithfulness to Odysseus. Although Penelope has remained loyal to Odysseus so far, it is unknown whether she will eventually snap and marry of the suitors. This would cause chaos.
The readers learn of a culture from long ago and begin to understand the myths of Ancient Greece. It exemplifies how storytelling is a major part of Ancient Greek society because it defines who humans are. Ancient Greek's mythology can be connected to modern beliefs and religions, such as Christianity. It is interesting to learn about the roots of modern belief systems; for instance, Christians believe in Jesus Christ; the Greeks believed in Prometheus, who is not unlike a Christ figure. Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of mankind, and Prometheus was bound and got his liver ripped out every day for having given light (fire) to the world. Jesus is also seen as "the light of the world," and this commonality indicates a definite a parallel between Greek mythology and modern religious beliefs.
Themes of infidelity, human nature, and finding one's inner self can be found in Shakespeare's plays; Hamlet, for example, must learn to grow up and do something about his father's death. He wants to avenge his father by killing Claudius, but there is the theme of indecision throughout the play. Hamlet finally accepts his circumstances and comes to a stage of enlightenment when he is kidnapped by pirates and goes to sea; Telemakhus is similar to Hamlet in that he wants to find out the truth about his father and find his own identity. This exemplifies how the themes of The Odyssey are enduring and can be applied to any time period.
The Odyssey is a story about what it is to be human. Odysseus must go through many trials and through much pain, and so do all people from every time period. It is a timeless epic with themes of loss, jealousy, infidelity, and betrayal. It is a tale that is retold throughout history and has made a great impact on the world because of its themes of human nature. It is very important to society because it outlines what society needs to be.

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Summary: the interesting book
Review: i recommend this book because you can learn more about life and do friends. i recommended because they teach that you never gona win, that you have to learn to loose and talk with the people that won against you. And that you have to do friend of that person or don't get mad with that people and always be firendly.

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Summary: The Odyssey a classic
Review: I think that the Odyssey is a good book to read because it talks about excited things that happend in life. It is an intresting book to read. Alot people that I now have read this book.
Now that I read this book I have enjoy this book alot and my friends have to. I put for the title of the review.The Odyssey a classic because I think this book is going to continue to success because I think that the people are going to continue reading this book. I think that is a very import book.

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Summary: The odissey in the news.
Review: I think that this book in parts is good, because it talks about a men that are capted by a mounster and that mounster dont led odisseus go back home to see his family, and is for that, that I dont like to much these book, because no body can live far of his family, and eather no knowing nothing of his family. many people said that is bether live out his family and this book show us that if love concuires in that family, no matter who traing to separate that family, at last ther would be together.