The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation
by Homer

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• ISBN13: 9780374525743
• Condition: New
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Book Reviews of The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation

Book Review: One of the greatest epic ever written
Summary: 5 Stars

Name any book and you can see elements in which that book is portrayed within The Odyssey.

The story takes place some time after the Iliad in which suitors overrun the home of the brave tactician Odysseus. His son, Telemakhos has no recollection of his father since the day he was born was the day that he left to fight the Trojan War. The beautiful wife of Odysseus, Penelope remains steadfast and faithful even though her home is flooded with the most eligible of bachelors. His son had grown to manhood but still not a true man since he grew up without his father guidance. At that time, Athena comes to him in form of a human to help him on his way and suggest he leaves to find news of his father and to be out of harms way because the suitors plan to attack him.

During this time his father is trapped on the island of the beautiful nymph which he "reluctantly" beds and but is soon freed by the god Hermes.

The rest tells the tales of how Odysseus returns home. Odysseus tells the story that takes place beforehand through storytelling.

Odysseus is the pinnacle of Greek heroes. But his character does have it flaws. Odysseus also willingly beds down with not one but two beautiful goddesses during his travels and expresses little remorse for his infidelities - though he rails against the suitors who are trying to capture his wife. But he is blessed with both strength and brains. There is no better "improviser" or "strategist" in Greek mythology, though the label attached is often "cunning" or "deceiver"; indeed, many Greeks saw Odysseus' habit of lying as a vice and a weakness. His penchant for disguise complements his ability to make up plausible stories about his background. Although Odysseus' ingenuity comes across as his chief weapon, his Achilles' heel of sorts is the frequency with which he falls victim to temptation and makes grave tactical errors, none more so than when adding insult to injury to Polyphemos and revealing his true name. Still, Odysseus is aware of this flaw, and bids his men to tie him up when they pass by the Seirenes, the paragons of temptation. By the end of his journey, he has learned to resist temptation, willingly suffering abuse by the suitors to meet his eventual goal of destroying them.

At the end, (not to give it away) poetic justice is served. But you knew that.

Summary of The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation

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