Homer The Odyssey

Charles Underwood is an anthropologist and classical scholar.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionBook I: Uninvited GuestsBook II: Disorder in the CourtBook III: The Old HorsemanBook IV: The Thread of FortuneBook V: The IslandBook VI: NausikaaBook VII: The PhaiakiansBook VIII: Telling MomentsBook IX: The Wandering EyeBook X: KirkeBook XI: ShadowsBook XII: HazardsBook XIII: IthakaBook XIV: The Keeper of PigsBook XV: Telemakhos ReturnsBook XVI: PlansBook XVII: Stranger in the HouseBook XVIII: Almost HomeBook XIX: Face to FaceBook XX: Hard WordsBook XXI: The ContestBook XXII: Slaughterhouse Book XXIII: Give and TakeBook XIV Ends and MeansAbout the Translator

I admire this translation greatly. It has real precision without being stilted, retains just enough formal diction while being flexible and idiomatic, and achieves a real (and rarely caught) conversational tone--the essence of Homeric muthos. There were also some moments when a choice of adjective (e.g. "raw" to translate stugeroisin at Od.11.81) sent me back to the text with some skepticism, but allowed me to return with a new appreciation for the possibilities of meaning inherent in the Greek. All in all, this is a powerful and fresh interpretation (all translations being "readings"). The introduction, meanwhile, from Underwood’s distinctive ethnographic standpoint, is a compelling testimony to the perennial power of the poem.