The
Odyssey
Fagles Translation
Publisher: Penguin USA
Pub. Date: November 1997
Average Rating Five Stars: *****
The reviews by readers speak for themselves
From the Publisher:
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.
The
Iliad of Homer
by Homer, Richmond Lattimore
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date of Publication: 1961
Commentary:
One of the greatest stories ever told,
Iliad has survived for thousands of years because of its insightful
portrayal of man and its epic story of war, duty, honor, and
revenge.
While Iliad recounts the war between the Trojans and Achaeans,
it also is the tragic story of the fiery-tempered Achilles.
Insulted by his king, the proud Achilles decides to stand by
as his comrades are annihilated, but circumstances finally spur
the warrior to wreak savage retribution upon Troy.
The battle between the Trojans and Achaeans stirs ancient passions
and vendettas among the gods of Olympus. While the two armies
of mortals confront each other, the gods fly to earth to aid
their allies and confound their enemies. Soon, they too enter
the fray alongside the men, which leads to an attempt to betray
Zeus himself, the supreme king of Olympus.
Woven among the battle scenes are the stories of the men and
women caught in the war: the Trojan prince Hector, who is torn
between duty and love for his wife and young son; Helen, who
is the most beautiful woman in the world, but who comes to regret
being born; and Priam, the king of Troy, who is too old to battle,
but has the strength for one final act of courage .
Quintus of Smyrna
Frederick M. Combellack (Translator)
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books
From Barnes & Noble:
Although it deals in part with the
Trojan War, Homer''s Iliad ends with Achilles still alive
and Troy uncaptured; on the opposite end of the spectrum,
his Odyssey begins with the Greeks leaving Troy. Since everyone
in Homer''s time was familiar with the story, the omission
of the events in the middle caused no problem. However, as
centuries passed and details faded, something was needed to
fill the gap. And so, in the third century A.D. Quintus of
Smyrna wrote his chronicle--a connected account of the events
of the Trojan War occurring between the death of Hector and
the departure of the Greeks--including such important incidents
as the death of Achilles; the contest between Odysseus and
Ajax for the armor of Achilles; the death of Paris; the wooden
horse; and the capture and sack of Troy. This lively prose
translation by Frederick M. Combellack includes notes &
an introduction.
Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date:
May 1998
From the Publisher:
For 3,000 years, tales of Troy and its heroes - Achilles and
Hector, Paris and the legendary beauty Helen - have fired the
human imagination. In Search of the Trojan War, by Michael
Wood brings to life the legend and lore of the Heroic Age in
an archaeological adventure that sifts through the myths and
speculation to provide a privileged view of the riches and the
reality of ancient Troy. Includes dramatic new developments
in the search for Troy with the rediscovery, in Moscow, of the
so-called Jewels of Helen and the re-excavation of the site
of Troy which began in 1988 and is yielding new evidence about
the historical city..
The
Argonautika: The Story of Jason and the Quest
for the Golden Fleece
By Dilwym Jones
Publisher: University of California Press; September 1, 1997
From the Publisher:
Jason and the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece is probably
the oldest extant Greek myth. Homer referred to it as something
"familiar to all." At one lev el this story
is a classic fairy tale: The young prince is sent on a perilous
expedition and triumphs over the obstacles put in his path
- from clashing rocks to fire-breathing bulls - to win not
only the Fleece but also the hand of the Medeia, the daughter
of King Aietes, who rules over Kolchis.
In addition to telling of the prince's quest, the myth also
hints at accounts of early exploration and colonizing ventures,
since the Argonauts returned home via Italy and Sicily after
navigating several of Europe's great rivers, including the
Po and the Rhone. Although the myth is old, the poem's treatment
of it is Hellenistic - in effect, modern. Jason emerges as
an all-too-human Everyman with the one real talent of being
able to make women fall in love with him. Medeia becomes a
major character: a virgin sorceress whose magic yields Jason's
triumph yet cannot save her from her own infatuation. The
supporting cast of manipulative goddesses behave uncommonly
like middle-class Hellenistic ladies. Together, the combination
of age-old myth and modern treatment produces a gripping and
unforgettable narrative.
Peter Green has translated this renowned poem with skill
and wit, offering a refreshing interpretation of a timeless
story. His commentary - the first on all four books since
Mooney's in 1912 - both sheds light in dark places and takes
account of the recent upsurge of scholarly interest in Apollonios.
Description:
Father of history; father of lies--Herodotus has both reputations.
The new translation upholds the reputation of this bestiary
of ancient customs, which becomes a history of Greek resistance
to the invasion of the Persian king Xerxes in 480 BC
Commentary:
This Book captures for the first time the peculiar quality of
Herodotus, the father of history. Here is the historian, investigating
and judging what he has seen, heard, and read, and seeking out
the true causes and consequences of the great deeds of the past.
Synopsis:
"Herodotus, while distinguishing his history from epic
poetry . . . nonetheless drew upon folklore and myth. . . .
In his History, the war between the Greeks and Persians, the
origins of their enmity, and . . . the more general features
of the civilizations of the world of his day are seen as a unity
and expressed as the vision of one man who as a child lived
through the last of the great acts in this universal drama."
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press paperback
From the Publisher:
Available again in paperback, Henry Ormerod's classic Piracy
in the Ancient World brings the treachery of the ancient high
seas alive. Drawing on the works of Homer and Thucydides and
the historical records that have survived from ancient Greece
and Rome, Ormerod reconstructs the dangers of coastal living
and seafaring and the attempts of ancient society to protect
itself against the threat of invasion from the seas. He describes
the general nature of early piracy, ancient navigation, and
the pirate's routines and tactics.
by Dilwyn Jones
Publisher: David Brown Bk.Co.
Pub. Date: January 1990
Review In modern archeology no other
discovery has created as much interest in Egyptology as the
discoveries of Howard carter. The Egyptian artisans had the
habit of recording every aspect of their culture in paintings
and sculpture. We are fortunate to have models from antiquity
illustrating nearly every aspect of Egyptian daily life. The
boat models in Tutankhamum's tomb are symbolic and ceremonial
and hardly compare to the Ship of Cheops found at the Great
Pyramid. However these models give a keen insight into some
of the watercraft in use in Egypt in 1450 BCE.
Review: From Chester G. Starr - The American Historical
Review
Wallinga is endowed with sober perspicacity, although in the
case of this book he also possesses a willingness to engage
in bold speculation... The evidence is limited, but he feels
able to present convincing solutions supporting his thesis that
the main area of advance {in naval strength} was not in the
small Greek states but in the Near Eastern kingdoms of Egypt
and Persia... {Wallinga} concludes from the depiction of ships
on Geometric vases that all vessels at this time were rowed;
is there any justification for this inference? Chapter 4 is
the most convincing part of the book. Wallinga places the origin
of the trireme in the rivalry of Egypt and Persia.... Bibliography
and two indexes (sources cited and general topics, one of the
best I have seen) complete this provocative book, not one to
be set before the neophyte.
Publisher: University of California Press; Pub. Date: May 1996
From the Publisher
Peter Green brilliantly evokes the whole dramatic sweep of events
set in motion by the Persian offensive. He takes us to the evacuation
of Attica, the preliminary and inconclusive battles at Thermopylae
and Artemisium, the establishment of the Greek fleet at Salamis,
the advance of the barbarians, the intricacies of the dramatic
battle itself, and the ignominious retreat of Xerxes and his
troops. The Persian Wars continue to arouse discussion and controversy
among historians.
