MN Readalong : Homer’s The Odyssey in 2026

I finally sat down to read the 2 books this evening. (Mental note to Google why they are called "books")

I didn't remember how gripping it is from the start. Maybe it's because my mind isn't meandering wondering how this or that bit is relevant, I can be quite a naive reader. Anyway, I'm back in love with Athena, and Penelope, and with a newfound respect for Telemachus!

I won't have time to read for the next 2 or 3 nights, but I know I'm not going to want to wait for February to read the next two books. I'm grateful though to be reunited with this story and will follow the thread to see how we all get on!

Just got my Emily Wilson edition and it has deckled edges! I was surprised and pleased by this detail. It makes it feel like an artefact that's been passed down over the years.

Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit ! I'm no expert though! I did a classics undergrad degree and studied the Odyssey with a very inspiring tutor, but that was very far back in the mists of time.

@Onceuponasunflower we have the Armitage Odyssey as well! Just so you know, it's not actually a direct translation of Homer. It's an adaptation/retelling/reimagining of the story: a literary work and a piece of poetry in its own right. I would say it's very much worth reading, but it's much shorter than the original and leaves out a lot of great scenes.

The Rieu translation is pretty heavy. Richmond Lattimore’s translation is my favourite

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit and everyone interested, this version is available free, online (go to page 36 for main text, if you want to skip the intro)

Ooh I didn't know Simon Armitage did an Odyssey! I already have the Fagles and Wilson so probably shouldn't get another!

That's next! I'm watching them in order.

@dudsville Voyager would be more in keeping with the Odyssey theme 😊

I'm hopefully ready to start today. The thing that I had to finish was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, just to lower the bar a bit. And the only reason I say "hopefully" is because I return to work today after quite an extended holiday period. Maybe thinking of Odysseus's plights will will boost me along 😂

That's interesting@cassandre!

I'm in, I have Simon Armitage's verse translation. I also have my childhood copy of Tony Robinson's Odysseus, does anyone remember that? 😄

I'm interested in translation theory so it's fascinating to join a group reading a few different translations.

@cassandre- thanks for the information about the different translations. That’s really helpful in choosing one (I’ve gone for the Emily Wilson one as I liked the sound of a verse translation).

Hello, would love to join please! I have the cloth bound edition.

I think I've posted this on mn before but you can watch Emily Wilson in conversation with Kamila Shamsie about her translation of the Odyssey on the Hay festival book club site. You have to register but it's not too onerous. I watched it live and it was a fascinating event.

www.hayfestival.com/p-22485-hay-festival-august-book-club-the-odyssey.aspx

@DuPainDuVinDuFromage I was in awe of her then and I'm even more in awe of her now!

@cassandre so cool that you know Emily Wilson! I was amazed at the work and skill that must have gone into her translation, and as you say, her introduction is great - so interesting and wide-ranging. What is the plan re. reading introductions for the readalong - do them at the end and compare notes on the intros to the different versions, or what?

Oh, and I've also heard good things about Peter Green's translation, although I haven't read that one myself.

I don't think I'll join this read-along, tempted as I am, because I've read the Odyssey several times already over the years, and I'm a bit overcommitted already this year to various read-alongs and book groups.

I will lurk though if that's all right because it's one of my favourite books ever!

All the translations will have 24 books (as the chapters of the epic are conventionally called) because the poem has been divided into 24 books since classical antiquity. If the books have titles, those are added by the modern translator (so the titles will differ from translator to translator). Although Books 1-4 have traditionally been called 'the Telemachy' due to their focus on Odysseus' son Telemachus.

The biggest choice to make when reading in translation is whether to read a prose version (more literal) or a verse translation. E.V. Rieu's translation is in prose. My favourite verse translations are the ones by Fagles, Lattimore and Wilson. Richmond Lattimore's is the one I know best, and I like it partly because there is one line of English for every one line of Greek, so it's quite close to the original in that regard. Wilson's translation is amazing, however: so clear and modern, but in iambic pentameter, so it sounds like poetry. Her introduction to her translation is fantastic as well. Incidentally, our paths crossed at uni, and she's a genuinely lovely person as well as an amazing scholar and translator.

mine has just turned up, Emily Wilson translation also has 24 chapters.

i love the penguin classics cloth bound and have just started a collection, alongside Harper Muse classics with painted covers

Appreciate this is a read-a-long thread but just to say if any of you have kids still at home (or just enjoy a greek mythology podcast as tbh I think DH and I like it as much as the kids) I can highly recommend National Geographic's Greeking Out!

@EineReiseDurchDieZeitbeautiful aren’t they!

I’m in, I bought the penguin Clothbound classics one as part of my collection, I hope it’s digestible! I’m conservatively aiming to read 6 classics this year so this will tick one!

Claire D has read me the first book - about 22 mins long 😀