The Odyssey of Homer: A New Verse Translation (Bantam Classics)

The Odyssey is one of the greatest adventures in world literature, telling the story of Odysseus and his decade-long struggle to return home after the Trojan War. Now serving as the inspiration for the upcoming film The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Elliot Page, Robert Pattinson, and Zendaya, Homer’s epic continues to captivate readers nearly three thousand years after it was first composed.

Odysseus’s journey takes him through storms, shipwrecks, the lair of the Cyclops, the island of Circe, the dangerous songs of the Sirens, and even the Underworld. Yet his greatest challenge awaits him upon reaching Ithaca, where treacherous suitors have taken over his kingdom and seek to claim his faithful wife, Penelope. At the same time, his son Telemachus embarks on a journey of his own, guided by the goddess Athena as he searches for news of his father and prepares to defend his family.

National Book Award–winning translator Allen Mandelbaum brings Homer’s epic to modern readers in a powerful and lyrical verse translation. His rendering captures the beauty, drama, and enduring humanity of the original Greek, preserving the remarkable story of a hero whose struggle for home, family, and identity has inspired generations of writers and readers.

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