Homer / The Odyssey
by Homer

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Book Reviews of Homer / The Odyssey

Book Review: Classic brought to life through translation and performance!
Summary: 5 Stars

It took a few centuries, but there is finally a translation that brings the story more up-to-date for modern audiences. The translator, Mr. Fagles, has done away with the rhyming scheme of the original and instead put the text into a more readable format of sentences and paragraphs. This move alone has made the story more readable than any other translation I've attempted (and it should be noted, even at 13 hours on audio, this is the first translation of Homer I've been able to understand and, more importantly, *finish*). Expressions of gratitude also go out to him for reducing the amount of "thus"es and "heretofore"s and other elements of ancient speech that are commonly found in Greek translations. While I did notice that he sometimes used very modern words like "potluck", it is this very modernization that allowed me to more fully get into the text and comprehend it.

I therefore disagree with a friend of mine, a Classics professor, who says that Fagles is "dumbing down" Homer's work by making it more readable ("Homer is NOT Stephen King! It's a story that's over 2,800 years old!! Of COURSE it's going to be difficult to read!", he grumped). As a writer, storyteller and teacher of English writing and reading, my feelings are that if you have lost your audience, then you might as well be writing to the rocks and trees-the purpose of a story is to be told and UNDERSTOOD; if the audience doesn't understand you, then what have you got? Nothing! So, while I concede that Mr. Fagles might have taken some liberties with the translation and style by making it narrative text vs. poetic -meter, I believe it has only served to enhance the story so much more.

Much of the Odyssey, of course, are stories and retellings of the great deeds of the hero, Odysseus, who set forth from his native land of Ithaca to do the sorts of things that heroes do, mostly conquer armies. Odysseus of course becomes shipwrecked and endures a number of different adventures, including the Island of the Lotus-Eaters, Polyphemus the one-eyed Cyclops, and the destructive singing of the Sirens. Meanwhile, at home his wife, Penelope, awaits his return while suitors take over the kingdom and try to win her affections, devouring the goods of the realm in the process.

For a modern audience with all the convenient of CD-ROM's, the Internet, cable TV and whatnot, the repetitive nature of The Odyssey might grow a bit dull and tiresome if one were to read the whole thing in print, but thanks to the stellar voice talents of Ian McKellen, I breezed through the 12 cassettes in an astoundingly short time, so drawn in was I by his voice. His soothing tones, rising and falling with the action, pausing here, growing louder there as some battle is raged, is so perfectly matched to the text that you can easily picture him sitting there in some ancient stone hall telling the story as if it were his own and Odysseus his best friend. I was not bored for an instant with him as my narrator and guide through this ancient story, and I can't recommend this audio version highly enough.

In closing, the tapes are packaged with a short but informative and densely written book by Mr. Bernard Knox. Admittedly, I didn't use or refer to this book often, being more interested in just the story itself than all of the infinite details.

An astounding feat of translation, performance and research!! Highly, HIGHLY recommended!!

Summary of Homer / The Odyssey

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