Book Description
The ancient Greek bard Homer established the standard for tales of epic quests and heroic journeys with The Odyssey. Crowded with characters, both human and nonhuman, and bursting with action, The Odyssey details the adventures of Odysseus, king of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War, as he struggles to return to his home and his waiting, ever-faithful wife, Penelope.
The Odyssey is not only a rousing adventure story, but also a profound meditation on courage, loyalty, family, fate, and undying love. More than three thousand years old, it was the first story to delineate carefully and exhaustively a single character arc—a narrative structure that serves as the foundation and heart of the modern novel. Robert Squillace’s revision of George Herbert Palmer’s classic prose translation captures the drama and vitality of adventure, while remaining true to the original Homeric language.
Robert Squillace teaches in the Cultural Foundations division of New York University’s General Studies Program. He has published numerous essays on literature and the book Modernism, Modernity and Arnold Bennett.
The Odyssey (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) FROM OUR EDITORS
Barnes & Noble Classics offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
ANNOTATION
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FROM THE PUBLISHER
Long before The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry
Potter, the ancient Greek poet Homer established the standard
for tales of epic quests and heroic journeys with The Odyssey.
Crowded with characters, both human and non-human, and bursting with
action, The Odyssey details the adventures of Odysseus, king of
Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War, as he struggles to return to his home
and his waiting, ever-faithful wife, Penelope.
Along the way he encounters the seductive Circe, who changes men into
swine; the gorgeous water-nymph, Calypso, who keeps him a
“prisoner of love” for seven years; the terrible,
one-eyed, man-eating giant Cyclops; and a host of other ogres,
wizards, sirens, and gods. But when he finally reaches Ithaca after
ten years of travel, his trials have only begun. There he must battle
the scheming noblemen who, thinking him dead, have demanded that
Penelope choose one of them to be her new husband—and
Ithaca’s new king.
Often called the “second work of Western literature”
(The Iliad, also by Homer, being the first), The Odyssey
is not only a rousing adventure drama, but also a profound meditation
on courage, loyalty, family, fate, and undying love. More than three
thousand years old, it was the first story to delineate carefully and
exhaustively a single character arc — a narrative structure that
serves as the foundation and heart of the modern novel. Robert
Squillace’s revision of George Herbert Palmer’s classic
prose translation captures the drama and vitality of adventure, while
remaining true to the original Homeric language.
Robert Squillace teaches in the Cultural Foundations division
of New York University’s General Studies Program. He has
published numerous essays on literature and the book Modernism,
Modernity and Arnold Bennett.
Features a map of the Mediterranean Sea and an index