Product Description

It took ten years for the Greeks to achieve victory at Troy, and for a further ten years Odysseus has been heading home, his journey dogged by perilous storms and treacherous landfalls. Now the Gods have decided it is time for the wandering hero to find Ithaca, before his faithful wife Penelope is forced to marry again. But angry Poseidon is seeking revenge for the mutilation of his son, and further dangers lie ahead if Odysseus is to be reunited with his family, and confront the suitors before time runs out. In this new verse adaptation, originally commissioned for BBC Radio, Simon Armitage has recast Homer's epic as a series of dramatic dialogues: between gods and men; between no-nonsense Captain Odysseus and his unruly, lotus-eating, homesick companions; between subtle Odysseus (wiliest hero of antiquity) and a range of shape-shifting adversaries - Calypso, Circe, the Sirens, the Cyclops - as he and his men are 'pinballed between islands' by adversity. "The Odyssey" is a book of changes, and Simon Armitage's retelling of Homer's epic quickens and revitalizes our sense of it as oral poetry: as indeed one of the greatest of tall tales. His version bristles with the economy, wit and guile that we have come to expect from one of the most individual voices of his generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #247407 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 266 pages

Customer Reviews

Quietly brilliant
These days, The Odyssey is usually seen as more of an historical artefact than a work of fiction. Clunky translations tend to kill the drama and fail to capture why The Odyssey is still a classic after more than 2500 years. Armitage reinvigorates the tale by completely rewriting it in the form of a radio play. Surprisingly, Armitage plays it straight, writing very naturalistic dialogue and resisting the temptation to render everything in pompous poetry. A strange approach, you might think, for one of Britain's leading poets. But it works brilliantly.

In Armitage's version, the timeless themes of the story come in to sharp focus. The story exposes man's weakness when faced with the devastating power of temptation. But we also see the value of courage and loyalty in the face of insurmountable odds - not only from Odysseus, but also from Penelope, forced to wait to for him alone for twenty years. The Odyssey is in many ways a strikingly modern and human story, and that really comes through here. Armitage has put humanity into The Odyssey, allowing us to share Odysseus's pain and longing, as well as his famed cunning.

There's humour here, as well as intense drama, and the whole thing is beautifully readable, compulsive, concise and easy to follow. All the romance and excitement of the adventure and the tension of the decisive moments is captured here. It could nearly be a children's classic, but for a few cases of strong language and sexual references (it's a 12A rating, really). There's plenty for grownups to enjoy here though, regardless of whether or not you've read The Odyssey.

Refreshing take on a classic
Lively, jaunty and sympathetic to the protagonists, this is an engaging introduction to the outlines of Odysseus's experiences in a dramatised format that would lend itself well to the classroom.

Odysseus does come across as an irritating sort of leader at points - but in the final section, he provides a satisfying comeuppance for all the rapacious suitors who've been harassing his wife. The relationship between Zeus and Athena is by turns amusing and touching, and there are some unexpectedly vivid characters, such as Queen Arete who is desperate to get Odysseus away from her family and consequently helps him on his way home.

Although in terms of poetic technique, theme and voice, I prefer Armitage's stand alone poetry, this is a fine addition to the poetic interpretations of Homer's great work. It is however, an entertainment rather than a full translation - if you're looking for that, Fagles would be your man, as Armitage himself acknowledges.